Godzilla 2014
by Kyero Di' Nelma
Summary: This is my retelling of the events of the movie Godzilla 2014 by Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Studios. I was thoroughly entertained by the film, but left ultimately unsatisfied regarding characters and Godzilla's nature towards humans. So I will retell the events of the movie in the way I felt they should have been told. I hope you enjoy!
1. Introduction

Hello everyone!

I'm back, and I have a new story idea.

I have run into a creative slump with Godzilla: Malevolent Waters and thus will not continue until I have renewed inspiration on that project. Instead, being fresh from watching the 2014 movie in theaters, I will be putting together a retelling of the events of the movie in the manner I would have liked to have seen them go down.

First major change: Godzilla will be a true anti-hero. You will not know whether to root for him or wish for his destruction. And when the Admiral says their best bet to destroy them is to use the nuclear bomb, you'll be leaning towards agreeing with him.

Second, Joe Brody won't die. He's going to remain on board for the long haul.

And the last change is going to be some of the character dynamics. Ford is going to be more proactive and engaging, as ATJ lacked that sense of urgency and dread building up in the soul of someone who's family was in immediate danger the whole time. Elle Brody is going to be more like a woman with a husband who's trying to fight monsters and a son who's in the danger zone with her as opposed to a woman who's taking things a little to smoothly given the nature of the events surrounding her.

I hope you guys enjoy this project!

I know I will!


	2. Prologue

_**Prologue - Into the Depths, Awakening**_

_Date: February 22, 1954_

_ Time: 0230_

_ Location: Edge of the Mariana Trench 90 miles southwest of the island of Colonia_

—

"Captain, we're picking up that reading again sir," first mate Collins called out.

"Where?" The Captain responded.

"It's approximately three miles east sir."

"Impossible. That puts it inside the trench!" The Captain barked.

"… Yes, sir," the first mate said quietly.

"What's the depth?"

"This reading puts it at approximately 5.83 miles sir."

The Captain looked at the sonar, trying to see if there was something anomalous in the readings before checking the depth finder. The readings were steady, so what was producing the momentary anomalies?

"Check again. I'm not seeing anything," he ordered.

"Yes sir!" Came a unified response from the crew.

They checked and double checked the sonar and instruments, but nothing was out of order. Everything was working perfectly, so for what reason were they acting up? The readings were so subtle and so quick that they almost didn't register, but the sharp eyes of the crew detected them. It was almost as if the ocean floor was moving. The changes were erratic and uneven, but they continued for several minutes as the USS Nautilus, the first operational nuclear powered submarine, continued to descend into the depths.

Both the Captain and crew were on edge. They'd only been christened and launched on January 21 earlier in the year for her maiden voyage, and they'd stumbled upon something strange within one of the deepest points in the Pacific Ocean. Whatever it was had been large enough to trigger a response from the sonar and depth finders, but nothing biological in all the world's oceans was large enough to trigger such responses. Even the largest of the whales, the Blue Whale, was around one hundred feet long or so when full grown. But even at such a length they didn't come this deep just to sit on the ocean floor and mess with a submarine's instruments.

So what was it?

The minute ticked by without any further developments, and the crew settled down.

"Well, Captain, it appears that it's gone now."

"Indeed," the Captain responded distractedly.

He was deep in thought, racking his brain to figure out what caused the anomalies when there was a larger blip on the sonar and a much larger glitch in the depth finder.

"Captain! The ocean floor is moving!" One of the crewmen called.

The Captain ran to the man who called it out and checked the screen, watching as the depth finder revealed a jagged shape slowly rising from the depths.

Then came the sound.

An eerie, guttural sound almost like a long and drawn out hyena call under the water with a sharp rise in pitch towards the end. The sound was loud enough even at a distance of over three hundred meters from the rising shape to shake the sub. The crew braced themselves as the sonar began going haywire. A tremendous shape emerged and began approaching the sub.

"It's coming!"

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious!" The Captain yelled.

"Everyone, brace for impact!" He ordered.

The crew braced for an impact, but it never came. The large blip began moving passed the sub on the sonar as everyone slowly began to relax. As the monstrous form moved they felt the sub creak and moan as it was pushed to the side by the underwater wake created as it passed them. A few crew members looked out the windows on the side of the sub, but they couldn't see anything in the darkness of the ocean depths. Before long, the massive shape disappeared from sonar and the sub continued on its way.

Less than a week later, the first nuclear bomb was dropped on the Bikini Atoll, announced as a testing of the destructive power of the device. However, something else was going on behind the scenes. Something enormous. Something… Alive.


	3. Chapter 1 - Dr Serizawa, A New Threat

**Chapter 1 - Dr. Serizawa, A New Threat**

_Date: June 17, 1999_

_Time: 1330_

_Location: The Philippines, Active Mining Site_

—

The sound of helicopter blades slicing through the air was a constant companion in the ears of those who now sat abroad the transport. Flying in from an undisclosed location, two doctors began their journey to a mining facility in the Philippines where something amazing had been unearthed. They were being flown out to investigate and document the discovery, and as they looked out the window of the craft they saw the beautiful scenery unfold.

The islands were full of greenery which was a welcome change from the usual atmosphere of the big city where they had come from. However, the green landscape gave way to a dry and barren wasteland that was the mining operation. They'd cleared away hundreds of acres of forest to mine, and there were thousands of workers all scrambling about like ants in a colony. Each one carrying bags, tools, or water to another location as the helicopter flew overhead to its destination.

As they descended, the two doctors grabbed their belongings. One was a Japanese man roughly in his mid forties, wearing a straw hat to protect him from the sun and sunglasses. He was dressed in casual business attire, and accompanied by a British doctor wearing similar clothing. But she chose to forego the hat and enjoy the Philippine sunshine. But out in this environment, the dreary surroundings made it seem less enjoyable as she hopped out of the helicopter with the other doctor and began a jog over to meet their host.

"Dr. Serizawa?" The man asked, extending his hand out to the Japanese man.

He nodded, taking the man's hand while shielding himself from the wind created by the chopper with the other hand. The man looked to the woman, extending his hand.

"Dr. Graham?"

She nodded, doing the same as Serizawa and shaking his hand while doing her best to shield herself from the helicopter's wind.

"This way please."

Both doctors were led to another location in the mine, all the while being briefed on what had happened during the time since the discovery.

"Some of our miners were working on clearing away some large rocks and debris in the shaft, but their explosives opened up a giant underground cave network. We estimate the nearly forty to fifty miners lost their lives, and another seventy to eighty are unaccounted for."

Dr. Serizawa looked at the man and nodded with a grim and sorrowful expression on his face.

"This way Dr.," the man said.

He led the two doctors down to the edge of the giant chasm and introduced them to another doctor who had also come out to meet them and document the findings. His name was Dr. Travis Odom, a paleontologist called in to look at something 'extraordinary' discovered in the depths. They all took a lift down to the bottom of the shaft, wearing protective biohazard suits just in case as mild amounts of radiation had been measured in the area. They weren't fatal, but better safe than sorry.

Together the group of doctors continued their exploration down into the darkness, their flashlights being the only source of light once they ventured beyond a certain depth. They continued on for almost an hour before coming to the area where the 'extraordinary' discovery had been made previously. They kept their lights up and their eyes open, with Dr. Serizawa looking to Dr. Graham and nodding before they founded a corner and beheld a giant skeleton.

It was incredibly long, covering the entirety of the cave floor from where they stood down into the darkness beyond their field of vision.

"Amazing! I've been searching for dinosaur bones for over thirty years but I've never seen anything like this before. They weren't kidding when they said this was the find of the century. Perhaps the biggest find ever!" Dr. Odom exclaimed as he excitedly approached the bones.

"Oh wow… Sensei, is it him?" Dr. Graham asked.

Dr. Serizawa shook his head.

"No. This is much older," he said quietly.

He shone his light on the bones, looking almost like giant ribs snaking all the way down a giant spinal cord. There was no skull evident anywhere, unless it was on the other end. But there were no arms or legs either. Just a massive spine and ribs running the length of the cave floor. They continued walking for a short time before stumbling on a sight that took their breath away.

"What are those things?" Dr. Odom asked.

"I don't know… Spores? Pods?" Dr. Graham suggested.

Dr. Serizawa only nodded, too fascinated to really apply any further input.

"This one here is perfectly preserved. There's no way they're fossils," Dr. Graham stated.

"Yeah, and look over there!" Dr. Odom called out suddenly as he shone his light to the side.

His light landed on what looked to be another spore, but this was one broken open. It was quite fresh too, as it was still decently moist.

"Did something come out of it?" Dr. Odom asked.

"It's possible…" Dr. Graham replied.

Dr. Serizawa continued walking for a bit, attracted by something else ahead.

"Sensei!" Dr. Graham called out.

He turned his head, watching as she caught up.

"Please don't wander off Sensei. Who knows what's down here."

He nodded silently, looking ahead to what had attracted his attention previously. As they all gathered up on Serizawa, he beheld an opening in the rock a short distance from the open spore. It led to sunlight, and upon exiting the opening they found themselves in what looked like some kind of dug out where something had scraped its way to the surface before dragging itself to the sea. The doctors all looked to each other in silent amazement as they saw a few helicopters fly overhead to inspect the find.

Dr. Graham then received a message on her walkie talkie.

"Sensei… They've called us back," she said quietly.

Dr. Serizawa took one final look at the drag mark before nodding with a grunt and turning back. Later that day, they were back on a helicopter and being flown back an undisclosed location. Having seen the discovery in the mines for themselves and documenting it as they went, they had everything they needed to confirm that something was amiss. As the helicopter turned away from the mine, one of the workers caught sight of the logo on the side which had previously been covered by a false logo that was torn off upon take off.

"… Monarch?" He asked himself as the helicopter disappeared into the distance.


	4. Chapter 2 - The Brody's, The Accident

**Chapter 2: The Brody's, The Accident**

_The Date: August 5th, 1999_

_The Time: 0630_

_Location: Janjira, Japan, The Brody's Home_

—

The sun shone through a shōji window of a traditional Japanese style home into the eyes of a young boy slumbering peacefully within. He had been roused by the voice of his father in the next room having an argument on the phone. He rubbed his eyes and let out a long yawn as he slid towards the edge of the bed. However he had misjudged his position in his sleepy state and ended up falling off the bed and to the floor. He let out a small "oomph!" and shook his head as he got to his feet.

Wearing a set of blue pajama pants and a long sleeve pajama shirt, the young man picked up a sign from his floor. It was a "Happy Birthday Dad" sign he had made the night before. Using multi-colored construction paper as his medium, he cut out large ovals in one color and cut out letters in another. The effect was most festive, and he was proud of his work though in his sleep state you'd never know it by the way he dragged it behind him on the floor. He finally managed to shake off his sleepiness when he reached the room where his father was having the argument on the phone.

"No, I don't care what they're saying. Something is wrong here… I know that!… No, we need to run more tests… No, they're not going to prevent us from shutting down. I'm not going to allow something like this to take place at a nuclear plant where I'm responsible. You talk to them and tell them I need a meeting!"

The boy listened and hid by the doorway, hoping to find an opportunity to surprise his father with his sign as his mother walked up from around the corner.

She was wearing her business attire, and smiled at him. Her short hair had only recently been cut for her work at the nuclear power plant which his father had recently been put in charge of. His father was getting strange readings from the sensors, and it was causing tension between him and the other members of staff as well as their superiors.

"He's awake," the boy whispered.

"Oh, sweetie I'm sorry. He woke up early," his mother responded.

"What do we do?"

"Hmm. Well, for now you need to get ready for school. Go take a shower and get dressed. I'll fix you some breakfast in the mean time all right? If I get the chance to break him away from the phone to see you, I'll do so okay Ford?"

Ford nodded, but was a bit disappointed that he didn't get to show his sign to his father. He made his way to his room and put his sign out on his bed before going to take a shower. Once finished, he got dressed in his school uniform and went into the dining room for the breakfast his mother had made for him. Both she and his father had to leave a little early today, so she only had time to make him a sandwich, some orange juice, and a soft-boiled egg. He ate as quickly as he could, and ran back to his room while his father had temporarily stepped out of his "office."

Ford dragged the chair from his father's desk and used it to prop himself up and used a tack to stick one end of his sign on the wall before repeating the process on the other side. The sign "Happy Birthday Dad" was now on display in his father's office room, hanging fairly nicely for how quickly Ford had to work. He ran out of the office as his mother walked with him. His father was still on the phone by the car putting on his jacket somewhat awkwardly with one hand as the two of them kept going.

"Have a good day at school sweet heart. I'll talk to your father for you all right?"

"Okay mom. See ya!" He called.

She waved goodbye with a smile as he made his way to the bus that was waiting to pick him up. He ran around the side and climbed in, taking a seat at one of the first few windows and watching his parents. His father gestured to his mother about the car and she unlocked it before handing him the keys. Together they climbed in the car and his mother blew a kiss at him as the bus drove away.

"No, Hideto. I don't care what you have to do this has to stop! Just get me that meeting alright!" His father said, finally hanging up the phone.

He looked at his wife, who smiled sadly at him.

"You know, Ford made you a birthday sign."

"He what?" His father asked, looking out at the bus as it disappeared around the street corner.

"He made you a sign."

"Oh God… I'm so sorry," he said as he shook his head and rubbed his forehead.

"That's alright. He'll forgive you."

"I hope so. It's just that those tremors have been continuing lately and-"

"I know, dear. I know," she said, putting her hand over his mouth.

"By the way dear, happy birthday!" She said with a smile.

"Wait… Is it? Is it today?" He asked, genuinely surprised.

"Yes!" She said excitedly.

"Oh," he said in shock.

His wife leaned forward and gave him a hug, kissing him on the lips before he turned his head and chuckled as she kept kissing his cheek.

"In all this chaos I'd forgotten what day it is… I should have birthday's more often," he said jokingly as they continued to enjoy the moment.

They finally composed themselves as he turned the ignition of the car and began driving down the road. They sat in silence for a moment before he let out a sigh and spoke to her, though he kept his eyes on the road ahead.

"Listen, Sandra. I need to know it's not the sensors," he said in a serious tone.

She nodded to him.

"When we get to the plant, get a small team together and go to sector 5. Just do a quick sweep and make sure they're in working condition. I need to prove that this is not a malfunction."

"I understand Joe. I'll take care of it," she responded, putting a hand on his.

"Thanks honey."

They enjoyed the rest of the drive to the plant, and upon arrival they were greeted by Hideto, one of Joe's associates. He ran out to meet their car, papers in hand and a frantic look on his face.

"Doctor Brody!" He called as he ran to the car.

"What is it Hideto?" Joe asked.

Sandra got out of the car and looked a bit concerned, looking between the two men as they both looked at the paperwork Hideto was carrying.

"It's getting stronger, and the intervals are decreasing."

"Oh God…"

Joe looked at Sandra.

"Honey, get your team together. I'll get to the control room and try to figure this out."

"Alright dear."

Sandra entered the building and took a different path than the two men who now walked to the control room with a few other employees and one of their superiors who had managed to come down to see what all the fuss was about.

"So tell me again Joe, what is going on? What's the problem?" He asked.

"The problem, sir, is that these tremors are not natural. Earthquakes are random and unpredictable. These are coming in patterns, and they're becoming more frequent as well as more powerful. Take a look."

Joe held up one of the graphs that Hideto had printed of the tremor, but his superior didn't seem to understand or care.

"What am I looking at Joe?"

"The height on the graph is representative of its power. The width is the time of the tremor," Joe answered.

"And this is a graph of the tremors over time. The horizontal line here represents time in minutes. These are coming in minutes sir, not hours or days. This is happening all right now."

Joe's superior was perplexed, but nodded in acceptance of the facts and continued to the control room with the others to see what was going on.

Meanwhile, Sandra had gathered her team and they were preparing their hazmat suits. The sector they were searching was radioactive, but the suits would provide adequate protection from the radiation while they searched. Some of the others were finished and waiting, and Sandra approached with her mask in her hand.

"All right. Let's make this quick," she said, putting on her mask and securing her suit.

Together they made their way to the doors leading to sector 5 in the plant, walking through together and keeping their eyes on their surroundings just in case. With all the strange happenings going on, they weren't taking any chances.

Back in the control room, Joe was discussing what was happening with Hideto when another tremor shook the plant. Joe and the others braced themselves as it subsided, looking at their instruments and trying to control the situation as Joe kept running through his mind to try and figure out what could be causing such disturbances. Finally, he turned to his superior.

"Listen, if things go horribly wrong I'm shutting down the plant."

"That's not your call Joe."

"The Hell it isn't! You and the others put me in charge here, and if something goes wrong this entire area will become a sea of nuclear waste if I don't shut the plant down. Do you understand the lives that are at risk if this plant fails?"

"I understand perfectly Joe. I don't need a lecture from you to understand the significance of a reactor meltdown or any other catastrophic failure."

"Then why don't you seem to understand that shut down is necessary. Yes, your company will lose money for a while, but it's a small price to pay for doing the right thing and shutting down this facility if something goes wrong."

Joe turned away from him, tuning him out as he tried to make arguments to the contrary when one of the other employees gave a shout.

"Another tremor is incoming!"

They all braced, and the tremor struck. Joe and the others began to panic, looking left and right as warning lights began going off. It was a signal that somewhere in the plant there was a failure, and that it was time to begin evacuation. Joe grabbed a nearby walkie talkie and dialed in the frequency.

"Sandra… Sandra are you there? Honey?"

Back in sector five, the tremor struck Sandra and her team. Two of them fell to the floor and were promptly lifted to their feet by the others.

"What's happening?" One of them asked.

"I don't know," Sandra answered.

Then, the sound of snapping metal echoed through the corridor, and a sudden plume of smoke began to emerge before them.

"Oh my God!" Sandra exclaimed.

"Run! Run! We're getting out of here!" She yelled.

They all began running as fast as they could to escape the cloud that was now chasing them through the halls of the plant.

"Joe! Joe are you there?!" She yelled into her microphone.

Joe heard her voice and looked to another walkie talkie that was sitting nearby and threw the old one away as he picked up the one which Sandra's voice was coming from.

"Sandra! What's happening?" He asked.

"Joe, there's been a breach!"

"Run honey! If that gas reaches you then you won't last five minutes with or without the suits. Do you understand? Run as fast as you can!"

"I am! We're coming!" She screamed.

Joe kept the walkie talkie with him and looked to Hideto.

"Hideto, put the doors on manual override and signal the evacuation!"

"But Brody, if we do that then-"

"Just keep those doors open, my wife is still in there!" He yelled, running out the door of the control room.

Hideto hit the evacuation signal, sending an alarm through the plant. The instant Joe was out of the control room he was knocked to the ground by another fleeing employee. Several dozen of them hadn't waited for the evacuation alarm and were already filling the hallways as Joe pushed himself to his feet and ran in the opposite direction. He rounded several corners and had to dodge oncoming escapees. He flailed his arms while yelling at everyone to get out of his way. Running as fast as he could, he finally made it to the doors where Sandra and the others would be coming.

"Sandra. Are you there?"

"Joe we're coming!" She yelled.

"Keep going honey!"

Sandra tried to respond but another tremor shook the plant causing her and two others to fall to the ground. Sandra shook it off and stood up, looking to her teammate as she tried to help him to his feet. However, when she looked up, she saw the plume of gas racing towards her. She and her teammate were both knocked once again to the floor as the gas engulfed them.

"… Sandra?" Joe asked.

There was mild static on the line.

"Joe… It's too late…" She said weakly.

"No, no! No! No don't you say that honey! Just keep going! Keep running! You can still-"

He was cut off by the sound of collapsing metal and concrete as he saw a wall of white gasses round the corner and begin racing at him. His lip quivered and his eyes began to water. His mind knew what was coming. It knew what was happening. But it didn't want to know. It fought not to know.

"AAAAAAAHHH!HHHHHHH!" He yelled before finally slamming his hand down on the switch to close the doors.

The doors closed just in time to prevent the gas from reaching him, but Joe slumped forward against the wall next to him. Weeping bitterly, he opened his eyes when he heard the sounds of fists hitting the door. He turned around slowly to see the faces of a few members of Sandra's team yelling from behind the door for him to open it.

He shook his head sadly.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry," he whispered.

The next face he saw was Sandra's as she pushed passed the others to look at Joe. He put his hand over his mouth, struggling to breath through his sobbing. Sandra too was crying on the other side, knowing full well what was going to happen to her now that she'd been engulfed in the gas. She took off her mask, gasping for a few breaths before smiling at Joe and putting her hand on the window.

"Take care of Ford," she said, her microphone still picking up her voice.

Joe could only nod to her as his lips quivered.

"Tell him… Mommy couldn't make it."

The extra set of doors began to close, slowly cutting off Joe's view of his wife on the others side. Despite everything, she smiled at him through her own tears as the door sealed itself shut. Joe fell forward against it, his face pressed against the cold hard steel as his tears began falling like rivers down his face. He slumped to his knees and wept, but was brought out of it by another large tremor. This time, from the plant itself.

Over the course of the next five minutes or so, the plant came crumbling down.

At the school nearby, Ford was sitting in class listening to his teacher giving directions about their upcoming assignment when they all felt the newest tremor and heard an alarm go off. The teacher ushered all the children into the hallway, but Ford remained behind as he caught sight of the plant going down in the corner of his eye. He walked over to the window, watching in silence as the plant fell to the ground bit by bit. A tremendous plume of dust billowed up from the wreckage, and young Ford's mouth slowly opened.

He ran to the nearby phone on the teachers desk and tried to call his father's mobile phone number, but the number was now disconnected. He looked up at the scene unfolding before him as his eyes started to water.

"Mom?… Dad?" He whispered.


	5. Chapter 3 - Come Home With Me

**Chapter 3: Come Home With Me**

_Date: May 16, 2014_

_Time: 0800_

_Location: San Francisco Airport_

—

The memories flashed through his mind as Ford, now a Lieutenant in the United States Navy and an explosives ordinance disposal expert, watched as the back of his transport craft opened up revealing the open sky outside. He was brought out of this thoughts by the sensation of one of his comrades giving him a slap on the shoulder.

"Hey. You got any family waiting for you?" He asked.

"I hope so," Ford said, giving him a half smile.

"Well my advice is to take it slow. It's the one thing they don't train you for."

Ford chuckled, picking up his pack and walking out of the transport craft.

He made his way through the airport, greeting and shaking hands with a few people who thanked him for his service in the military and continued through to the main entrance where he waved down a cab. Upon entering, he was asked where he'd like to go.

"Just take me to Fell Street and drop me off at any open spot. Thanks."

"Not a problem sir," the cab replied.

Ford was driven through the city to Fell Street where he hopped out and walked a few blocks to his home. Just seeing it up close again brought a smile to his face as he thought about how to greet his wife Elle and their son Sam. He stood on the side walk watching the house for a few moments longer, and was then approached by his neighbor.

"Ford! You're back!"

"Oh, hello Christina," he responded with a smile.

The two embraced for a moment before they stepped away.

"I hadn't heard that you were coming. Did you just get back today?"

"Yep."

"How long were you gone?"

"Fourteen months, thereabout."

"Wow! That's quite a long time for deployment."

"Yeah, it ended up being longer than anticipated."

"Well, I don't want to keep you from Elle. She and Sam have waited long enough don't you think?"

Ford laughed, nodding in agreement. Christina gave him one last hug and then walked away down the street to get some shopping done. Ford looked back at the house and walked up the step to the door. He was about to knock on the door, but froze just before striking it. The door opened up, and Elle rushed him anther suddenly. He struggled for a moment to not fall backwards to the pavement as he balanced himself with Elle now hanging around his neck.

"Welcome back Ford!" She said, planting her lips against his.

He smiled against the kiss, but welcomed it happily as he wrapped his arms around her waist. When they separated, he set her down and the two smiled at one another as Elle turned and called Sam. Their son then ran down the stairs at the back of the hall and into Ford's waiting arms.

"Daddy, you're home!" Sam said happily.

"That's right big man! I'm back… Speaking of big, you've grown since I saw you!"

"Yeah! I grew up!"

Ford and Elle shared a laugh as Ford affirmed the diagnosis from doctor Sam and walked inside. They sat down in the living room together where Ford told them about the things he'd seen and done during deployment, and about his return trip home. Elle and Sam listened intently as Ford told the stories, even getting a bit worried during some of the tales of the explosive disposals he had to endure. The sheer adrenaline of it all and the wave of fear that cascaded over Ford and his fellow soldiers during the disposals was hard to imagine.

When the story telling was over, they ate dinner together and Ford sent Sam to bed. The two of them tussled a bit when Sam tried to pull a wrestling move on Ford which he'd seen on tv, and Ford managed to evade the sudden attack and tuck his son into bed.

"Alright, time to get some sleep big guy."

Ford gave him a kiss on the forehead, and walked to the door.

"Hey dad?" Sam asked as Ford reached the door.

"Are you going to be here tomorrow?"

Ford paused, thinking back to his experience with his own father when he never came home from work that day.

"… Yeah… Get some sleep Sam," he said quietly.

Ford turned off the lights and closed his son's bedroom door. He leaned against the wall outside, thinking back to that day fifteen years ago when the plant imploded. That day, his father and mother didn't come home from work. Joe had survived, but was put in the hospital for his wounds during the collapse and Ford didn't get to see him until three days later. He was made to stay with his neighbors in the meantime. That experience was awful, but nothing trumped the fact that his mother would never be returning home.

His father had never been the same again. He grew quiet and reclusive, obsessing over the truth behind what happened. He knew the tremors weren't natural, but everyone was intent on saying otherwise. All of the official reports said that an earthquake had caused the collapse, but Joe was the only one who seemed to think otherwise. It caused quite the rift between the two as Ford grew older. The fact that his father just couldn't leave it alone and move on was a huge strain on Ford, and he had enlisted in the military at age seventeen to escape the lunacy of his father.

Ford shook it off, banishing those thoughts from his mind as he walked downstairs. For a few hours he and Elle stayed up talking about what had happened for her and Sam during Ford's absence. When the basic exchange was over, they grew a little playful before it was interrupted by a phone call. Elle thought it could be her work, as she was a nurse at a local hospital. Ford was reluctant to let her leave to answer it at first, but finally relented when she reached the phone.

"Hello?"

Ford mumbled about hanging up the phone, saying that her husband needed her. She giggled and slapped his hand away when he gave her a small tap on the backside.

"Yes, he's my husband… Oh… Thank you for calling."

She hung up the phone and turned towards Ford who was in the process of pouring himself a glass of water.

"Ford. Joe's been arrested in Japan. He was caught trying to enter a quarantine zone."

Ford immediately sighed, shaking his head. His jaw tightened and he let out a frustrated breath through his nose. Ford then remembered that he valued family above all else, and while he was upset at Joe for obsessing about the plant, he was still his father. Ford went to his room, trying to find a change of clothing and prepare himself for a trip to Japan.

"Elle where are my pants?"

"They're in the other drawer."

He found his pants and put them in a suitcase.

"So why do you think he was trespassing?"

"Well, if I had to guess it's because of the usual crackpot theories. All these conspiracies and everyone trying to hide the truth. He never was able to let it go."

"Ford… Come on, he needs you."

He gave her a face.

"Now don't be like that. He's your father Ford."

"Elle, it's not about that."

"Then what is it about Ford? What's so complicated about you going to help your father?"

Ford heaved a frustrated sigh.

"Look Elle. Every time I see him he tries to drag me back into his little crackpot world. Alright? I can't do that to our family. I can't be like him."

"I'm not asking you to be like him Ford. I'm asking you to help him."

Ford closed his eyes and hung his head slightly, nodding to her.

"Good," she said, coming forward to give him a hug.

"You know you're only going to be gone for a few days right? And then you're going to come back to me."

He nodded, smiling a little as he embraced her again.

"It's not going to be the end of the world Ford. Everything will be fine," she whispered.

The next day, Ford was on a plane to Japan. He arrived there in the late afternoon and made his way to the local police station where Joe was being held and sat in the waiting area. It took almost fifteen minutes, but finally Joe was brought into view. He was still behind glass, but he waved at Ford with a smile. Ford watched, unable to really respond due to the mixed feelings in his heart. The two of them made their way back to Joe's apartment where he had decorated the entire place with hundreds of newspaper clippings, pictures, charts, facts, and printed theories about the incident fifteen years ago.

Ford looked around, slightly horrified at what he saw as he then looked at Joe.

"… I don't get many visitors," Joe said almost sarcastically.

"Yeah, I can see that," Ford responded.

"Your stuff can go over here," Joe said while gesturing to a small open space near Joe's bed.

Ford dropped his things and went back to see what Joe was doing.

"So, what's it been? A few years now? And Sam! Ho ho. Sam's got to be getting big by now. What is he, three?"

"He's almost five."

Ford absently searched the place with his eyes before he noticed a strange book on one of the shelves. Its title was 'Echolocation,' a technique used by bats and other creatures which relied on senses other than site to hunt and travel.

"That's, um - Don't move anything. It's, it's just the way I like it."

"What was that?"

"Oh, I'm studying bioacoustics."

"Why?"

Joe sighed.

"Those tremors from fifteen years ago… They weren't, from a natural disaster. They were caused by something else. And whatever it is that's out there. Whatever it is they're hiding started talking again. And I mean talking."

"Talking?"

"Yeah. I need to get back there. I'm going back to our old house. If I can get to the house and find my old disks, if they're still there, then I can prove all of this. I can prove that I'm not… What you think I am."

Ford looked at him with the first signs of tears of frustration building. His lips were tightening, and he was shaking his head ever so slightly.

"… I'm not crazy," Joe said at last after a bit of silence.

Ford shook his head even more.

Joe opened his mouth, but he was unable to find the proper words with which to answer Fords question. He turned around, facing the window as he looked out to the evening sky.

"... They evacuated us so quickly... You know I did everything I could? You know that right?"

Ford only looked at him. He was unable to find his voice at first out of sheer disappointment and frustration. After a few moments to breathe, he final spoke.

"Why can't you just let her rest?"

Joe didn't answer.

"Look dad, this has to stop. Alright? This chasing ghosts and tracking down conspiracies. It all has to stop. Please. I have a son at home who's been hoping to see his grandpa… Come home with me."

Joe shook his head.

"I can't do that Ford."

"Why not?!" Ford demanded.

"… Because I'm the one who sent her down there son. It's my fault. It's my responsibility. And you. You can't continue to run away from this. You can't just bury the past and move on. You have to accept it too. You know there's something wrong with the story behind why she died, don't you?"

Ford's eyes were welling up and he was shaking his head still but unable to speak.

"Look son, I just want the truth. I know that what happened was not a natural disaster, and the data on my old disks will prove it."

Ford's head shook more violently, like that of a child angrily refusing to accept judgement from his parents.

"… I can prove this Ford. I can prove to you and everyone that I'm not crazy. I can prove that it's all been a cover up from the beginning right down to my old superiors who didn't want me to shut the plant down even though I said we had to be ready to do so."

Ford closed his eyes as the first few tears fell. He grit his teeth and sniffed in a breath as he looked at his father.

"Ford… It's time to go home. I need you to come with me. If you give me this chance, you and I will both be able to put it to rest once and for all. We can both move on. Please son… Come home with me."

Ford closed his eyes slowly, tightening them against his tears as he sighed in frustration through his exposed teeth. He pressed his lips together and sniffed in another breath as he looked up at his father who was nodding slowly at him. The sadness and restlessness in his father's eyes was proving to Ford that perhaps not all was as it seemed. For many years now he'd believed what the reports said. He believed that his father was crazy. But if he was crazy, why did he make sense? Ford took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly and softly as he nodded to Joe, who smiled at him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I love you son… Now let's finish this."

Ford nodded more affirmatively, following his father as they walked to the door together.


	6. Chapter 4 - Captured, Tremors Continue

**Chapter 4: Captured, Tremors Continue!**

_Date: May 20, 2014_

_Time: 0400_

_Location: Janjira, Japan_

—

Joe and Ford made their way through the haze of this early morning in May thanks to an acquaintance of Joe's who owned a boating service which regularly passed the quarantine zone. They quietly paid the man for his services and made their way through the reeds and waters of the river before finding themselves bracing for an impact as the boat touched shore. They hit ground and Ford hopped out to pull the boat further onto shore so Joe could get out and get their things out without risking them getting wet. They both then pushed the boat back into the water and bid the driver farewell as they turned towards the quarantined city.

"Just look at it," Joe said quietly.

Ford was silent.

The surroundings were gloomy and eerily silent, befitting the nature of a quarantine zone. The buildings were all covered in moss, mold, and run down beyond salvation. The cars were a similar story with broken windows galore coupled with flat tires and doors ripped off. Together Ford and Joe walked through the streets weaving in and out of the cars and debris before a few stray dogs ran by them barking wildly as if frightened by something.

"I wonder what got into them," Joe muttered.

Ford watched the dogs run by, his hands having clenched into fists out of his initial reaction to the dogs sudden barking. Ford was in a hyper awareness mode where he analyzed and overanalyzed every detail. When the dogs broke his focus, he was instantly ready for a fight. As they ran off and disappeared, he let out a breath and tried to keep himself calm. Ford glanced around, slowing his step a bit to take in the full extent of the horror around him before he turned around and saw Joe lagging behind with a device in his hand.

The little box Joe carried read a big fat goose egg while it let off a steady clicking sound. Joe then looked up at Ford.

"Dad, come on. We're not far from the house."

Joe looked back at his device, shook it, and then put it away in his pocket. He then grabbed hold of his mask and pulled it free, much to Ford's horror.

"What are you doing?!" Ford demanded.

Joe took in a few deep breaths.

"It's clean… I knew it!" He said, beginning to grit his teeth.

"The radiation in this area should be lethal but there's nothing!"

Ford was confused, but he approached his father and looked down at the mask in his hand. He let out a sigh and removed his own mask, taking in a deep breath. Joe was right. There was nothing in the air that would lead him to believe that either himself or Joe were in danger.

"Come on," Ford repeated.

They walked through the streets to their old house, now just as run down as the rest of the surrounding area. The old shōji windows and doors were all broken, the walls were cracked and looked like they could break down at any moment, and the floor was soaked in moisture and mold. It was a rather disgusting experience, but it was their old home and both men were hit with a wave of memories.

Joe's first thought was the phone call. That wretched phone call which caused him to think that sending his wife Sandra into the factory to check the sensors was a good idea. His heart dropped a bit at the thought, and he lowered his head a bit as he looked around trying to find something to take his mind off that train of thought.

Ford's first thought was trying to wake up and show his father his "Happy Birthday Dad" sign that he'd worked on the night before. He looked around the house, and every little thing he saw brought back a memory. The phone brought back the sight of his dad arguing on the phone with the plant. The desk brought back memories of sitting with his mother and practicing his Japanese. The carpet brought back memories of Ford playing with friends of his in the neighborhood. And an old broken down clock in the corner of the living room brought back the memory of Ford as a child staying up late and watching cartoons before being yelled at by his mother.

Both of them were momentarily stuck in the past until Joe saw something on the table among the numerous other items. It was a broken picture. The glass was shattered, and the frame was dented, but the picture inside remained largely untouched. He took it out and saw a picture of himself, Sandra, and Ford. Seeing his wife again brought an immediate tear to his eye as he gently stroked her image with his index finger tracing the line around her face. Ford walked through the hallway and found the sign he'd made all hung up in the same place he'd left it. It was nothing short of a miracle that it was still up there when nearly everything else around it was on the ground.

Joe, meanwhile, had found the disks he was after on his desk.

"Oh thank God," he whispered.

He placed them in his pack and turned to Ford, who came back from searching the house as they heard the sound of a helicopter approaching the area. They both ducked outside and hid behind cars and under debris as they watched it pass by. It was headed for the plant, and the two of them jogged to the other side of the house and saw that the plant itself seemed to have been rebuilt and was now up and running again.

"Did they really rebuild the plant?" Ford asked.

Joe only shook his head.

"I have no idea," he responded.

Then, both Ford and Joe were surprised and annoyed at the sound of an alarm sounding behind them. They both turned around and saw a few cars with armed men coming out with their weapons drawn.

"Hands where we can see them!" They demanded.

Ford and Joe gave up without a fight, getting thrown into one of the cars with Ford being handcuffed to the inside by the doors. Joe mentioned to one of the men that he used to work at the plant, and the man turned to his superior who gave him a head nod. The two of them were driven towards the new plant across a long bridge in the darkness of the night before finally arriving at a gate with more armed guards. The driver showed the guard at the gate a license and was allowed passage. Once inside the gates, they drove a short distance before Joe was removed from the car while Ford was left handcuffed inside to wait for further word.

Joe was then rushed to an interrogation room where he was asked questions about why he was back in a quarantine zone for the second time inside of a week. The usual tactics of informing him of how much trouble he was in were used along with warnings as to what kind of trouble his son was in as well.

It was at that moment that Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham entered the room on the opposite side of the glass. They were handed Joe's file and his data, as well as shown the disks Joe had recovered.

"I thought all data from that day was lost," Serizawa stated as he and Dr. Graham looked at the disks and printed readings.

"Apparently not," Graham answered.

They both looked up as they heard Joe continue the conversation behind the glass.

"You're not fooling anybody when you say that what happened was a natural disaster. It was not an earthquake. It wasn't a typhoon, okay?"

The interrogated began to ask Joe to calm down, but Joe interrupted him.

"I want my son. I want to see my son. I want to know that he's alright… This guy. This guy knows. He knows where he is."

Joe then asked the guard in Japanese if he knew, but continued right away by repeating "I want my son!"

"And I want my bag, and disks!" He said, standing up.

"And I want to talk to somebody in charge. Not you."

Again the man tried to talk, but Joe cut him off again.

"No, not you! I'm done talking to you… Alright?"

He looked to the glass.

"What? You're looking at me right now like I'm in a fish tank right? That's fine, because I know what happened here."

Drs. Serizawa and Graham looked up as Joe continued to speak.

"And you keep telling everybody that this place is a death zone but it's not. You're lying! Because what's really happening, is that you're hiding something out there… I'm right aren't I?…"

Joe looked back towards the glass after having looked at the interrogator and the guard for a brief moment.

"My wife, died here!… Something… Killed my wife…"

He began to tear up, just managing to keep himself together.

"And I have a right to know!" He yelled.

"I deserve answers."

Dr. Serizawa looked through the glass at Joe as the ground suddenly shook. Joe was the only one who didn't seem surprised.

"You see? It's happening again!" Joe said almost tauntingly.


	7. Chapter 5 - Back To The Stone Age

**Chapter 5: Back To The Stone Age**

_Date: May 20, 2014_

_Time: 1900_

_Location: Janjira, Japan_

—

The plant trembled and groaned under the pressure of what had just struck it. Another pulse, almost immediately following the previous erupted from the strange object outside the control room window where Drs. Serizawa and Graham watched it take place. The structure looked like a giant hook and pulsed with light along the orange dotted lines across its length and as it sent out another pulse the control room's lights flickered. It was tied down with numerous cables all wired to send hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity into it.

Meanwhile, behind the glass, Joe Brody was frowning intensely.

"You see? That is not an earthquake that is an electromagnetic pulse! It's happening the same as it did fifteen years ago!"

Dr. Serizawa turned and watched Joe behind the glass in a questioning manner, wondering just how much he truly understood about the situation.

"You have no idea what's coming… And it is gonna send us back to the stone age!"

Another pulse fried most of the control room's circuits, and the men watching the instruments began to panic saying that the equipment was not going to hold for much longer. Dr. Serizawa looked from Joe to the structure. The pulses began to intensify, and everyone in the room was beginning to panic.

"It's done feeding," Serizawa remarked.

The others tried to salvage the equipment as another pulse struck home, and the lights nearly went out. The doctor watched in horror and sadness as he made a difficult decision.

"… Kill it," he said quietly.

One of the men working the board pressed a button and the wires began sending electric currents through the structure. The electricity hissed and crackled in the night and then came to a stop shortly after a piece of the structure broke off and fell away to the ground below. The men beneath dove away to escape injury, but one unfortunate worker was unable to escape the debris and was crushed to death while his associates looked on in horror. One of the other workmen on a rise a short distance away looked into the area where the structure had collapsed.

Inside was a gooey, slimy, disgusting looking fleshy bundle that seemed to be alive. He shone his flashlight on it, and after a few moments the structure began exploding from the inside. Waves of debris flew out in all directions as the workmen nearby scattered. From within the structure came a guttural, high pitched call. The sheer magnitude of the sound generated by it was enough to cause another mild disturbance in the electrical network, causing a flicker of lights before it roared again. The creature within had an avian shaped face with a hook-like upper jaw and a flat lower jaw with six teeth lining it. Two large canine type teeth and four smaller teeth lining the inside. Its head was long and flat, and where the eyes would be were a series of glowing red bioluminescent patches.

The creature managed to shake off all of the outer cocoon it had created, and demonstrated its ferocity with its four inner arms as they began trying to tear away at the wires and walls surrounding it. Soldiers began approaching and started firing upon it, and out of irritation the creature lifted up its two front arms and slammed them down to the ground. The bioluminescent streaks along its limbs lit and pulsed before touching down, and as it did so it sent out a powerful electromagnetic pulse which shut down the entire plant all in not but a moment.

Joe was sitting quietly in his 'cell,' waiting for someone to set him free when the lights went out and the mechanical latch holding his door shut opened. The door slid open slightly, and he stood up and walked out cautiously. He checked to make sure there weren't any guards about, but with a monster running loose outside which he could now see through the window… Not likely to be guards worried about him.

Meanwhile, in the van which brought them here, Ford was still handcuffed to the inside. He had to stretch, which was uncomfortable with cuffs around his right wrist, to see out of the window. He saw the shape of the monster inside the pit moving about and the guards running around outside. He kicked at the door, trying to force it open but to no avail.

"Hey! Hey, let me out!" He shouted.

Outside, the men were running everywhere trying to get to positions to destroy this creature that was rampaging inside the pit. However, after a period of aggression, everything calmed after another emp was let loose. The monster stopped moving, until at last its two largest arms with hooks on the end rose up and out of the pit. Slowly, the soldiers watched as they then wrapped on the wires and started pulling them down. One by one they began to snap and split across the space above the pit, and several soldiers and workmen caught in the wrong places fell victim to the breaking of metal and flailing wire. One unlucky soldier was nearly cleaved in two by one such wire snapping at him as it broke free from the tension.

Joe had made it outside, and watched in horror as the monster continued to pull the wires apart in an attempt to free itself. One such wire was attached to an overpass leading to the pit which snapped under the pressure of the breaking wire and fell towards the van which held Ford. He braced himself in the vehicle by planting his body against the sides, but when the metal slammed into the van it was flipped end over end several times.

"FORD!" Joe shouted.

Inside the Van, Ford shook off the sudden shock and found that his handcuffs had been pulled free of the Van, but as a consequence his wrist was dislocated. He stood up and popped his wrist back into place, but upon looking up he saw his father on another overpass a little over one hundred feet away. The overpass bent beneath Joe's feet, and both father and son looked at one another as it gave way under the pressure.

"DAD!" Ford screamed as he ran towards his fallen father.

He was stopped by two things. The first was more metal and debris falling into his path, and the second was the sound of the monster roaring once more. Ford turned around slowly, gritting his teeth in anger as he saw the massive claw rise up and slam to the ground. The monster was free, and it hauled itself out of the pit and stomped its way out towards Ford. He ran away from it as best he could, but the monster's steps were simply too fast. He dove out of harm's way at the last moment before ducking for cover behind some debris near a fallen wall. The monster roared once more and opened its wings. With a few flaps, it was up and in the air before flying away.

The plant was left in ruins.

Upon the morning light, Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham wandered the wreckage helping the rescue effort for those trapped and wounded. One soldier then approached him, followed by others.

"Dr. Serizawa?"

He nodded.

"It's good to meet you, sir. I've been informed that MONARCH put you in charge here. As of now, the military is taking command of this operation from MONARCH. Sir, I will ask that you please come with me. Are there any further personnel that you need to bring with you?"

The Dr. looked around, trying to spot two particular faces. Once his eyes landed on Ford, who was helping his wounded father into an ambulance, Dr. Serizawa pointed at them. He looked back to the soldier.

"Them," he stated.

A short time later, both Ford and Joe were on a helicopter with Joe being monitored by medical personnel. He had suffered a severe back injury, as well as several broken ribs. However, after a thorough examination it was determined he would be all right. Ford sat by him with a hand on Joe's as Joe was given his treatment and pain killers.

"Ford?" Joe said weakly.

"Hey. Hey, dad. I'm right here."

Joe smiled, nodding at Ford.

"Just sit tight okay? You're gone be fine," Ford reassured him.

Joe chuckled a bit, but coughed a few times as a result putting him in a lot of pain. One of the medics came over and gently placed a hand on Joe's shoulder.

"Please try to remain still sir."

Joe nodded.

Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham watched in silence, both whispering to one another as they looked out the window and saw they were approaching the USS Saratoga of the US Navy. The aircraft carrier was massive, even from the air, and as they landed the two doctors were rushed to the command room where Admiral Stenz was giving a prepared speech about the monster which appeared at the plant the night before.

"This is our needle in a haystack people. M.U.T.O… "Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism." Although, as you can see it is no longer "terrestrial," it is airborne. The MUTO emitted enough emp to disrupt our radar and satellite tracking capabilities, limiting us for the moment to a strictly visual search. I emphasize "for the moment," because we will get on our game. And we will find this thing. It is imperative that we do so."

He looked to the captain of the vessel, nodding to him.

"Captain I want every available course of action on this table A.S.A.P."

"Yes, sir," the captain responded.

It was then that Dr. Serizawa walked in and the admiral greeted him.

"Dr. Serizawa. Admiral William Stenz, thank you for coming."

The doctor nodded to him.

"Nice to meet you," Serizawa responded.

After a brief exchange, Serizawa was called by Dr. Graham. He excused himself and walked over to speak to her. He was informed that Joe Brody's health had taken a positive turn, and that they were cleared to speak with him now. Together the doctors made their way to the meeting room where Joe's medical bed had been moved so he could speak with Serizawa. Ford was by his side, and looked up as the doctors walked in.

Serizawa gave a bow to the two men as he welcomed them aboard.

"Mr. Brody. I am told you used to work for Janjira plant. Is that true?" He asked.

Joe nodded.

"Ye-Yes. I did. Fifteen years ago."

"Is there anything you can tell me about what happened the day the plant collapsed?" Serizawa asked.

Joe nodded, taking a breather.

"In the days leading up to the incident, we were receiving strange readings. Seismic tremors which we originally thought were a series of quakes. But we soon discovered a pattern."

Dr. Serizawa nodded, listening intently as Dr. Graham noted what Joe was saying.

"They were predictable, right down to the minute. They increased in strength too. My superiors tried to play it off as a malfunction of the sensors, but I knew there was nothing wrong with them. That's why I…"

Joe paused, taking a breath as his eyes started to water. Ford hung his head slightly and put his hand on his father's shoulder.

"He sent mom down to investigate the sensors. It was supposed to be easy but…"

Dr. Serizawa immediately understood, as he remembered Joe saying that his wife had died at the plant.

"I'm sorry for your loss, sir. Please, continue," Serizawa asked.

Joe nodded, taking a moment to breath.

"I sent her down to inspect the sensors, and that's when the strongest tremors we'd felt yet struck the plant. The equipment started to malfunction, and now I know it was because of the emp it was letting off."

"And how about these?" Dr. Graham asked, holding up Joe's disks.

"Those hold all of the data I gathered up until that day. They should still have copies of the first tremors and scans we ran. Other than that, some of them just hold the usual nuclear plant day to day records."

Dr. Graham nodded, sifting through the disks and setting them down on the table.

"Mr. Brody. Is there anything else you can tell me about the analysis of the tremors and your research into this matter over the last fifteen years?" Dr. Serizawa asked.

"Yeah… It was talking. That thing. It was talking."

The doctor squinted in confusion.

"Talking?" He asked.

"Yes. It was talking. I think those pulses it sent out were calls of some kind. I've been studying bioacoustics, and the interruptions which were resulting held similar qualities to the emp attack it let off at the plant."

Dr. Serizawa nodded, thinking for a few moments before turning to Dr. Graham.

"If it was trying to communicate with something, then…"

"Sensei?" She asked.

"Check the data gain. Analyze everything before the final emp. Something may have responded."

"Yes sensei," Dr. Graham responded.

They rushed to the other end of the room as Joe's eyes followed them. Ford kept his eyes on them as well, wondering what they were expecting to find. They turned their attention to a large screen and ran through the emp's one by one until they found another one with a secondary pulse directly after it.

"There… Something responded," Serizawa stated.

"But what?" Dr. Graham asked.

"… The other spore," Serizawa responded.

"The other what?" Joe then asked.

Serizawa and Graham turned to him, and told him the story of the skeleton they found in the caves beneath the mine. They described the way the spores were latched onto the creature's corpse, and how they likely were awakened by the plant's radioactivity. The first creature, which was now being referred to as MUTO, tunneled away from the caves and made its way to the plant where it began feeding off of the radiation until it gestated.

"So, where's the other pod then?" Joe asked.

"We had it taken away. It was determined that it was dormant. So it was moved," Graham said.

"But moved to where?" Ford asked.

"Where we put all nuclear waste," Serizawa answered as the realization struck him.


	8. Chapter 6 - Nature Has An Order

**Chapter 6: Nature Has An Order**

_Date: May 20, 2014_

_Time: 1915_

_Location: USS Saratoga_

—

"So then what happens now?" Ford asked.

Dr. Serizawa looked at him, and then to Dr. Graham.

"Well, I told the admiral about this and he said that they've sent several teams to survey the site. If they find the pod to be open, they'll try to kill the MUTO before it reaches maturity."

"That's it?" Ford asked.

Dr. Graham looked to Dr. Serizawa.

"I'm afraid it's out of our hands. The military is in charge now," he said.

Ford nodded, but was disappointed.

"Is there anything else that we can do? Maybe there's something about its electromagnetic qualities that we can use against it?" Joe asked.

Dr. Serizawa looked at him, but shook his head.

"No, there is a better way," Serizawa responded.

"And what's that?" Ford asked.

Dr. Graham looked to Dr. Serizawa questioningly, but he nodded at her and she relaxed her expression. Serizawa turned to the projector and began loading a new presentation to show Ford and Joe. As he finished preparing, he looked up at Ford and Joe.

"In 1954, when the first nuclear submarine descended down into the depths… It awakened something," Serizawa began.

Serizawa pressed a button and the first slide came up. The screen displayed something incredible which made both Ford and Joe's jaws drop. It was a picture of a ship, and the people on it were looking out to sea. What they were looking at almost looked like a giant row of jagged shark fins all lined up along the back of something monstrous moving through the water a short distance away. The picture was old and faded, but it was easy to see just how enormous the creature was.

"What is that?" Joe asked.

Dr. Graham looked at him and smiled.

"That, Mr. Brody, is what Dr. Serizawa was talking about."

"Nature has an order, gentlemen. A power to restore balance," Serizawa continued, changing the picture.

The next picture displayed was a shot of the creature rising up out of the ocean. It was still mostly invisible beneath the waves, but those spines were again a prevalent feature with part of the creature's head breaking the surface. In the foreground was a device that was revealed to be one of the nuclear bombs set off in the Bikini Atoll. When Joe saw the nuke, he remembered something his father had told him.

"That's one of the nukes used during the tests in the pacific," Joe said quietly.

Dr. Graham looked at him and shook her head.

"No, not tests," she replied.

"They were trying to kill it," Serizawa added.

"Did they succeed?" Ford asked.

Serizawa shook his head.

"No," Dr. Graham said.

Dr. Serizawa moved to the next slide and a picture of the creature's estimated skeleton appeared on the screen. Ford and Joe were both amazed. Even Dr. Graham and Serizawa were both somewhat mesmerized by looking at it. The picture was just an artists rendition of the way the creature's skeleton might appear, as no real skeleton of it had ever been discovered. The creature in the caves beneath the mine was something else entirely, and their connection to this creature and the MUTOs was unknown. But Dr. Serizawa had a theory about this creature on the screen.

"It is an alpha predator. Standing at the top of a primordial food chain from a time when radiation was much more plentiful on our planet."

"A monster," Ford said.

Dr. Graham looked to him.

"No, a God," she responded.

"So what is it?" Joe asked again.

Serizawa looked over at him.

"We call him, Gojira," Serizawa replied.

Dr. Graham then stood up and walked around the table to stand next to Serizawa.

"Then where has he been this whole time? And why haven't we heard of him or seen him before now?" Ford asked.

"We believe Gojira was dormant beneath the sea until the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear powered submarine, ventured too close to Gojira. The nuclear power must have stimulated Gojira, awakening him from his hibernation. But ever since the military's attempts to kill him in 1954 Gojira has not come to the surface."

"Well I doubt that we can consider that a bad thing," Ford said.

"Why is that?" Serizawa asked.

"Because just look at that thing. Who knows what it can do. If that flying MUTO thing or whatever it's called can use an emp, what can this Goji-thing do?"

Serizawa seemed about to speak, but he closed his mouth and nodded.

"We admit that we know next to nothing about Gojira, but that doesn't mean that we should fear him just yet," Dr. Graham retorted.

Dr. Serizawa gave a wave of his hand to silence her.

"So what do we do about him?" Joe asked.

Serizawa looked at Joe and then switched the screen back to the picture of Gojira rising from the water.

"As I told you, Mr. Brody. Nature has an order, and a power to restore balance. I believe that _he_ is that power."

"So what? You want to have us just wait until this "Gojira" decides it's worth his time to come to the surface and fight this thing?" Ford asked, obviously irritated at the doctor's fascination with Gojira.

Serizawa nodded.

Ford sighed, but Joe put a hand on his arm and he seemed to calm down.

"What do we do now?" Joe asked.

"We wait," Dr. Graham said calmly.

Joe nodded, and looked at Ford.

"We need to get back to our family. All of this… We need to warn them," Joe said.

"We need to get to San Francisco," Ford added.

"We can put you on a helicopter that will take you to Hawaii. From there you can catch a flight directly back to San Francisco," Dr. Graham answered.

It was only a matter of hours before Ford and Joe were air lifted to Honolulu, Hawaii. Joe remained bound to his medical bed for the time being due to his back injuries, and when he and Ford landed in Honolulu Joe was asked to go to the hospital for a secondary medical evaluation. He was a bit reluctant to leave Ford by himself, but he knew that it would be a good idea so he was drive very carefully to the general hospital where he received immediate attention. He bid farewell to Ford and told him to get home as fast as possible. Ford was unhappy about leaving him behind, but Joe insisted that he get home and that Joe would join them later once he was well enough to travel unassisted.

Ford made his way to the train station and hopped on board the first train to arrive, checking the schedule to see how many stops it would be until he arrived at the airport. His flight had been paid for already, so he took his seat and waited for the last passengers to board. One individual was a child looking at him from just inside the door as he held a small toy soldier he'd taken from his old home when he and Joe first arrived in Janjira. He smiled at the kid, but as he looked back down at his little toy soldier he was alerted to a problem when the kid started yelling. He looked up and saw that the doors had shut and the kid's parents were outside yelling for their child.

Ford got up and went to the door trying to calm the parents down before attempting to pry the door open. It wouldn't budge, and as the train started moving the kid ran along the car with the parents trying to keep pace outside. Ford caught the kid and gave the parents his word that he would bring the child back around. He silently complained about missing his flight, but otherwise he sat down with the kid and gave him the toy soldier to keep him occupied during the train ride.


	9. Chapter 7 - Airport Chaos

**Chapter 7: Airport Chaos**

_Date: May 21, 2014_

_Time: 2000_

_Location: Honolulu, Hawaii_

—

In the mountains and forests of Honolulu, several dozen soldiers were split into teams as they searched for the source of a signal which was leading them towards a nuclear coolant unit. The cooler was from a nuclear submarine which had only just recently been reported missing over the last dozen hours or so. Why it was way out here in Hawaii was beyond them, but they followed their orders regardless. They continued to search for the source of the signal, with the device leading them to it increasing its signal strength indicating they were getting close.

Finally, the device seemed to indicate the soldiers were right on top of the cooler. When they looked up, they cleared a bit of foliage and saw something covered in a giant blob of white goop. The soldier walked forward and wiped the goo away from the item, and saw the nuclear hazard symbol on it.

The soldiers all looked up and shone their flashlights up into the trees. As they adjusted to the sight, they got on the radio.

"… We found the missing sub," they said into the radio.

Indeed they had. The sub was propped up against the trees with the flying MUTO eating away at the side of it. The creature pulled its head back and swallowed something that looked exactly like the first coolant unit before going right back to feeding. The soldiers called over the radio that they needed a strike, and the USS Saratoga floating offshore responded. They launched an F-35B and two F/A-18E's to take care of the job.

Meanwhile, on the train, Ford was busy trying to thin about how he'd tell Elle about everything that happened when the kid next to him exclaimed while looking out the window. Ford turned around and saw the jets flying passed, and he instantly knew something was very wrong. He put his hand on the kid's shoulder and asked him to sit back down. He looked at the light of the jet's afterburners fading into the distance before letting out a sigh and hoping in his mind that everything would be all right.

Back at the sub, the soldiers on the ground were getting some distance from the MUTO as it continued to feed, until the first jets arrived and flew past it. The creature stopped eating and pushed the sub in its surprise, nearly knocking it and the surrounding trees to the ground on top of the fleeing soldiers. It let out a roar of defiance and snapped its jaws at one of the lanes which flew in low just over its head. The plane evaded the snap and flew back around after acquiring permission to engage. The plane came around and let loose with its guns, not wanting to set off missiles this close to a crowded city. The MUTO was having none of that, however, and immediately lifted its forearm up and slammed it to the ground releasing an emp.

The planes all immediately shut down in the air and tried to send out mayday signals, but without any electronics to send it there was nothing they could do as they crashed into the side of the mountain. The MUTO let out a roar of triumph as the planes exploded against the mountain side, illuminating it against the night sky for a few moments before the rest of the city then fell victim to the emp.

The train stopped in its tracks, skidding to a stop. The people on board all began to panic, with Ford looking to the kid as he started to panic as well.

"Hey, hey. Take it easy all right? You give it about ten-seconds, the lights will come back on," he reassured the kid.

He held the kid's hand, looking out the window of the train wondering exactly what was happening. That feeling in his gut would not go away though, and he knew in the back of his mind that something was still wrong.

Back on the USS Saratoga, the admiral was being given the report about what was going on. The USS Saratoga was far enough away that the emp didn't effect it directly, but the fact that they lost communications with the ground forces was a cause of great concern. The admiral went about saying that he wanted communications back on line right away. It was right about that time that they received word from one of the choppers that something was heading for the ship from the pacific.

Dr. Serizawa overheard the warning and got his coat.

"Dr. Serizawa, where are you going?" Dr. Graham asked.

"To the main deck," he responded.

"But they're calling for general quarters!" She said.

"I have to see this," he answered.

He jogged to the deck and borrowed a pair of binoculars from one of the soldiers. He kept an eye on the water, but didn't see anything yet.

Back in the forests, the soldiers gathered near the downed aircraft. The pilot was dead, and they all silently mourned their fallen comrade as one of them called out," Anyone have an eye on the bogey?" They looked out to the city, seeing the fires from the other downed planes lining a path to the city. They heard the sound of the MUTO roaring, but they couldn't see where it was. Right about that time, the lights came back on across the city. Back on the train, the lights came on and Ford looked to the kid next to him.

"You see? What'd I tell you?" He asked, smiling to the kid.

The lights across the train tracks came on, and after a few seconds the entire train erupted into a series of screams as they saw the massive form of the MUTO approaching the train as it started to move. Since the train was automated, it had no conductor to stop it from moving towards the monster. Ford heard the fire of helicopter guns going off and grabbed the kid instinctually and yelled, "Get down!" The others in the train followed suit, and the MUTO brushed off the attacks and continued on its path. Ford looked up in time to see the MUTO's face outside the train roar and open its mouth before it bit down on the train and through the tracks. Ford grabbed the nearest pole next to him for security, as the train began to lean down through the broken tracks. Several people fell out of the open end and Ford grabbed the kid who slid down next to him to keep him from falling.

On the beach, a little girl was sitting with her mother and father at an outdoor party. She watched her dad get up and go talk to a friend of his, and she stood up and walked towards the ocean. She wanted to walk in the water, but as she approached she saw the ocean beginning to recede.

"Dad!" She called.

Her father turned towards her casually, but upon seeing the receding ocean he ran over to her.

"Zoey!" He said, picking her up in his arms.

The ocean receded even faster, and he turned and yelled, "Run!" Others around him were yelling as the tsunami warning alarm rang out throughout the area as everyone began running as fast as they could towards the city.

Back on the USS Saratoga, word came through over the radios.

_"Be advised, target moving 2 km out. Could be a second bogey, over."_

Dr. Serizawa walked towards the edge of the deck and noticed the helicopters out in the distance shining their lights on something. He could not see from where he was, so he reached for his binoculars and dialed in the distance. The first thing he saw was the helicopters and their lights. He followed the lights down, and saw they were shining upon a most menacing site. In the water, cutting through it like a knife, were Gojira's spines. One spine was on the right, one on the left, and the largest was in the middle. Dr. Serizawa dialed out a little and saw all three, and they were heading directly for the ship. He dropped the binoculars when he realized they were close enough to see without them, and watched in horror as they came up upon the ship.

The soldiers around him ran up with weapons drawn, but they all realized it would be futile. The three giant spines sliced clean through the water with no resistance before they suddenly disappeared beneath the waves. Serizawa looked into the water and could see the massive form of Gojira swimming underneath the carrier. He and the others ran to the other side just in time to see Gojira begin his surface as his wake alone pushed two other large ships right out of the way like toys. The waves produced by Gojira's rapid approach finally sent a wall of water hurtling towards the island. The waves washed away all the trees, cars, umbrellas, stands, and signs in its wake and tore through the city streets.

In moments, the entire area within a good mile of the shore was flooded with nearly fifteen to twenty feet of water. There were some people on the roofs who heard the warning, and they looked down at the destruction beneath them as they watched hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people helplessly swept away in the wake of the tsunami. Then, they saw flares deployed from rooftops all around them, and as they looked up they saw the form of something enormous coming up upon them. They all froze, and watched in complete silence as an enormous reptilian creature walked towards the heart of the city.

Suddenly, bursts of gunfire above them went off as military units dropped off by helicopter a short time before the creature's arrival began unloading on it. The creature halted in its tracks, not injured in any way by the attack, but obviously annoyed. As its head came around, the soldiers and civilians all watched as its large eyes came around and landed on them. Its mouth curled in a snarl as it bore its teeth. The lips around the teeth quivered as a growl followed. It was a deep, bellowing growl. An undulating sound at first which stabilized before finishing with a sharp rise in pitch at the end. The giant creature leaned down towards the soldiers and people on the rooftops, glaring at them with a snarl.

And then, a most foolhardy mistake was made.

One soldier panicked, and opened fire on the creature's nose. The giant's eyes widened and its pupils dilated as its entire face scrunched in an aggressive manner. It's lips curled back farther, its teeth were more exposed, and its eyes fell right on the soldier whom had opened fire. The creature opened its mouth, and the nightmare of all nightmares followed. The creature's right arm rose into the air at its side, its claws opening up as its hand flared. The hand then came down on the building rooftop, smashing everyone on it. Soldier and civilian alike were crushed to death instantly beneath the massive claw as the creature nearly ripped the building in half, sending a massive chunk of it into the flooded streets below as it let out another growl.

Once finished, the creature continued on its path. As a final sign of annoyance, the creature used its tail to smash the base of another building where other soldiers had fired upon it. The building shook, but did not crumble down. The soldiers on top were so scared they almost dropped their weapons out of terror as they desperately clung to anything they could to stabilize themselves until the building stopped shaking.

The MUTO, in the meantime, was now approaching the airport. It walked across the open space beyond the train tracks after deciding the train was not worth the attention, and moved forward a bit towards the planes that were parked and awaiting passengers. One of the attack helicopters announced that it had acquired the target and was moving in for an attack. As it began lashing out against the MUTO, something enormous rose up next to it forcing the pilot to take momentary evasive maneuvers.

"Jesus!" He yelled.

The helicopter pilot continued towards the MUTO, but lost control and ended up crashing directly into the MUTO's wing as it walked forward. The MUTO let out a roar and ignored the now downed helicopter as it continued on its way. The people inside the terminal waiting for their plane watched as the helicopter struck one of the waiting planes and erupted in flames. The plane itself followed suit, bursting into flames and exploding, sending wreckage across the way. But as the people inside screamed at the carnage, they were all silenced by the sight of an enormous foot falling in front of the terminal window. The sound of the impact was so deep, and the shockwave so sudden, they all froze in place in fear. Total silence enveloped the terminal as they people watched the second foot rise, move forward, and fall to the ground with the same incredible force as the first.

The MUTO then realized it was being approached by something, and it turned to face the creature which was approaching it. The MUTO flared its wings and released a roar, trying to intimidate the much larger creature.

One of the crewmen on the ground who helped with the loading of luggage and such onto the planes looked up, trying to wrap his head around what he was seeing.

The creature that stomped towards the small winged one stood upright on two legs. It was very reptilian in appearance, with thick and highly muscular legs leading into a beefy torso. Its arms looked almost like those of a human in relative size to the body, but slightly shorter. It had four claws on each, with a prominent collar bone at the base of the throat similar to that of a dinosaur. The shoulders were slightly forward, also similar to a dinosaur. On its back were three rows of spines, with the center row being the longest. The creature's neck tapered up into a head which looked almost like that of a bear from the front. A fairly small snout leading into high cheek bones with a prominent brow ridge. The nose and lips were curled in a snarl, and the creature's head was rearing back.

What happened next literally shook the earth.

The creature lurched forward and released a roar that everyone within nearly ten miles could swear was powerful enough to split the heavens wide open. The shriek split and shattered all of the glass across the terminal and sent a new wave of fear and panic through the hearts of the people trapped within. The ground shook to the point where all of them fell, unable to sustain their balance. The creature's roar continued for all of about two-seconds, ending in a sharp rise in pitch. It was so brief, yet seemed to last forever. Several people's ears were literally bleeding, and others still were out cold from the shock to the system it provided. Even worse, a few people began suffering from cardiac arrest just from the shock of the volume the roar produced and started convulsing on the ground.

The giant reptilian creature snarled at the MUTO, and charged.


	10. Chapter 8 - Honolulu's Demise, Two MUTOs

**Chapter 8: Honolulu's Demise, Two MUTOs?**

_Date: May 21, 2014_

_Time: 2048_

_Location: Honolulu, Hawaii_

—

The ground trembled and the air was being flooded with the sounds of war being waged on an atomic scale. The MUTO was engaged with Gojira, jumping into the air and flying about trying to bite and stab him as Gojira countered with bites and swipes of his own. At one point, Gojira's tail came dangerously close to the train cars where Ford had been helping the other civilians off the train cars. Fire trucks had arrived with ladders to help offload the passengers, and Ford made sure the kid was still with him as he continued to assist the fire fighters.

The impact of Gojira's tail on the ground nearby made the firetrucks jump nearly eight feet into the air, along with the train on the tracks. Several of the cars in the back began to fall off of the tracks, dragging the rest of the train with it one by one. For turned around and picked up the kid, yelling at everyone to run. The train came down and struck the ground with great force, but nothing compared to that of Gojira's tail. Ford managed to reach a safer distance from the action with the kid in hand, but as he looked back to the train he realized the fire fighters had also been caught in the wake of the train's descent to the earth. Ford bowed his head in sadness and respect, looking up again as the sound of Gojira's roar snapped him back to reality.

The giant reptile had just snapped the MUTO's shoulder into its jaws and was swinging it around back and forth like a rag doll. The MUTO grew desperate to get away, and began striking at Gojira's face with its hooked forearms. Gojira just barely avoided a direct strike to the eye, but received a nasty scratch across it all the same as he let go. The MUTO flew out and away from him and circled around back and began jumping on Gojira's back jabbing him with its claws. Gojira's hide was tough, but repeated attacks over and over to the same locations began to compromise it and blood was finally drawn from Gojira's lower back just to the right of one of his spines.

Gojira cried out in pain and snarled as he swirled around and latched onto the MUTO's arm with his right claw. Pulling it in, Gojira used his head as a hammer and smashed the MUTO across the chest sending it flying like a child's toy through the air and to the ground. The MUTO fell directly into the terminal of the airport, and Gojira wasn't about to let it get off easy. He trudged forward and stomped through the terminal, hundreds of people still running about scattering like ants beneath his feet as they slammed into the ground. The MUTO scrambled to its feet, clawing at the earth to force it upright as Gojira's foot came down on its hind leg. The MUTO let out a terrible shriek and insanely clawed and stabbed Gojira's leg, but Gojira stood firm.

It was then that unexpected 'help' arrived as more carrier aircraft and helicopters arrived and opened fire on Gojira. The planes had acquired permission to engage with missiles, and two of them struck Gojira on the side of his neck knocking him off balance for a moment and releasing the MUTO. The smaller winged creature made it to its feet and opened its wings as Gojira reeled. The massive reptile turned its attention back to the MUTO and tried to grab hold of it, but the nimble monster managed to leap into the air and flew away and out of Gojira's reach.

Gojira watched as the MUTO flew away and immediately gave chase. The flying MUTO was much faster than Gojira, but it was not fast enough to escape Gojira throwing objects at it. He grabbed a few cars and chucked them through the air like baseballs at the MUTO's back, striking it and knocking it into a building. The building came down, with all of the people trapped inside as a result of the earlier tsunami going down with it. Gojira trudged forward as the MUTO broke free and took off again. Gojira snarled and released a roar, trying to goad the flying creature into returning to accept the challenge. The MUTO continued its course and entered open air space above the ocean with Gojira in hot pursuit. The monstrous reptile descended into the water leaving only his spines visible above the surface as the military looked at the devastation in the wake of the battle.

Dozens of buildings were demolished. Most of the city within approximately one mile of shore had been buried under close to eight meters of water from the tsunami resulting from Gojira's initial approach. Hundreds of vehicles were destroyed. The entire airport was demolished. The train tracks were damaged and unusable. And the countryside had been damaged with nearly four acres of wooded areas burned down from the crashes of the jets earlier before the MUTO moved down into the city. The damage was severe, but that wasn't the biggest issue. Gojira and the MUTO had both injured one another, but neither was dead. With two large monsters nigh impervious to modern weaponry running loose, things just kept going from bad to worse as they received word that both of them were now heating towards the United States west coast in the direction of California.

—

_Date: May 22, 2014_

_Time: 1100_

_Location: Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository, Nevada_

—

A team of three military jeeps and two helicopters were en route to the repository. Their orders: to locate and destroy the second MUTO spore.

Upon their arrival, they entered the facility and began a room by room search for the MUTO spore. One by one the room viewing vents were opened, the rooms scanned, and the all clear given. This continued for several minutes longer until at last a viewing vent was opened and a burst of light shone through. The soldier at the door called his comrades over to him. With weapons drawn, the soldiers slowly opened the door and looked inside.

The entire room, along with several of the other rooms both above and below the spore were now gone. Something had broken loose out of the mountain, and as the soldiers gathered around to survey the wreckage to the facility, the eye of one soldier was caught by what looked like movement in the distance. He reached for his binoculars and lifted them to his eyes, dialing in the proper distance until the form of a monster appeared in his view. It was near identical to the other MUTO, but it had no wings and appeared to be much larger. What was worse was that it was heading directly towards Las Vegas.

"Get me admiral Stenz," he said.

"Yes sir," came a response.

He extended his hand and waited for the phone to be given to him, and once it was the admiral answered the call.

"Admiral Stenz, speaking."

"Sir… We may have a problem," the soldier began.

—

_Date: May 22, 2014_

_Time: 1118_

_Location: USS Saratoga, trailing Godzilla as he swims towards the California coast_

—

"Where is it now?" Stenz demanded.

"Sir, it's right outside the city and closing fast."

"Scramble all jets. I want this thing taken down now!" He ordered.

"Yes sir."

Dr. Serizawa and Graham both looked at each other before looking back to the screen. The MUTO was a near perfect copy of the other one, but much larger. As the doctors watched the screen, the MUTO engaged a series of attack helicopters sent after it. In order to combat them, the MUTO started climbing the skyscrapers until it realized they could not hold its weight. So instead, it began using them as launch pads before they could break to jump into the air and swat the helicopters down.

"It's nearly 300 feet… That's much larger than the other one," Dr. Graham commented.

"But what does that mean doctor?" Stenz asked.

She shook her head, thinking of an answer.

"A different sex?" She asked.

"… A female," Serizawa confirmed.

"So what does that mean doctor?" Stenz asked.

Serizawa looked to the admiral.

"When the male MUTO was confined to the plant, it was sending out a call of some kind. Perhaps a mating call."

"Yes, it's possible. If they are in fact male and female then there's a very high possibility they're going to try to reproduce," Dr. Graham added.

"Then what about… did you call it Godzilla?" Stenz asked.

Serizawa looked at the admiral, but rather than correct him he only nodded.

"That will do," Serizawa commented.

"You called him an "alpha predator," is that right?" Stenz inquired.

Serizawa nodded.

"If he really is hunting these things, how did he know to come now? Why didn't he come fifteen years ago when the MUTO first appeared at the plant as a juvenile?"

Serizawa shook his head.

"I do not know the answer… But I think Gojira has been listening. He must have sensed the MUTOs calls and emp attacks, and has now come to the surface to destroy them."

"Admiral! We have tracked the MUTO's estimated course to San Francisco Bay. Godzilla is continuing his present course as well, following the male MUTO."

"Right," the admiral responded.

He looked to the captain.

"What do we have captain?"

"Sir, we have decided to use a nuclear warhead and drive it approximately twenty miles out to sea. The radiation will lure in the MUTOs, and the MUTOs will lure Godzilla. We can kill all three of them using the sheer force of the blast with minimal fallout damage to the coastal cities."

"Wh-What?" Dr. Graham asked, astonished.

"We tried that before! These creatures, they all feed off of radiation."

"That was the 50's. We're talking thermonuclear yield. Megatons, not kilotons. It makes the bomb we dropped on Godzilla in 1954 look like a firecracker," the captain said.

"Well, that's it. Prep the warheads, get them ready to move out as soon as possible," the admiral ordered.

"Yes, sir!"

Dr. Graham shook her head and walked out, too astounded by the choice made to bear listening any longer.

"Admiral," Serizawa said quietly.

"Yes, doctor?"

"Gojira may be the answer."

"What do you mean doctor?"

"Gojira is hunting the MUTOs admiral. I believe you should let nature take its course. He can defeat them."

"I'm sorry doctor, but I am sacrificing lives every minute just to keep one of these things in sight and now I have two more to worry about. At this point, the highest priority is protecting the safety of our citizens."

Dr. Serizawa remained silent, but then handed him an old pocket watch. The admiral took the watch and looked at it.

"It's stopped," he said.

"8:15am. August 6, 1945," Serizawa responded.

"… Hiroshima."

"It was my father's," Serizawa said quietly.

With that, Serizawa left the command room.


	11. Chapter 9 - The Plan In Motion

**Chapter 9: The Plan In Motion**

_Date: May 22, 2014_

_Time: 1145_

_Location: Honolulu_

—

Ford guided the child from the train to a lost persons booth, asking the attendant about the procedure and was handed a form. He sighed at the form and turned to the man next to him who had his cell phone out. After asking whether or not it worked, he found out that nothing was working anymore, not even pay phones. Ford rolled his eyes and started to fill out the form until he noticed the boy was gone. He set the form down and walked around searching for the child, and after a few moments he saw the child running towards his parents. They'd survived the incident and made it to the safe zones in the aftermath and had found him.

Ford smiled, but on the inside he was hurting. He wished that could have been him and his own wife and son. However he realized that was a bit petty and banished the thoughts from his mind. He saw a group of soldiers lined up and marching, and he spotted a sergeant in line and called to him.

"Sergeant, Lieutenant Ford, US Navy. What's going on?"

"We spotted another one of those things in Nevada sir."

"So you're going East?"

"Yes, sir. I guess we're monster hunters now."

Ford took a moment to look at the men as they marched by, thinking about whether or not it was better to travel with them rather than wait for civilian transport. After a moment of thought, he decided to go with them. He approached the senior officer and requested to join their transport, and was granted passage. He hopped into the plane and sat down, hoping that once he landed he'd be able to find a way to get back to San Francisco before anything worse happened.

—

_Date: May 22, 2014_

_Time: 1420_

_Location: California Coastline, north of Oakland_

_(If anyone remembers the name of the city Ford was dropped off at when he boarded the train, please let me know and I'll add it and omit this note)_

—

Ford was transported via military jeep to the city and hopped out with the others. Looking around, he noticed a lot of civilians nearby still present despite the warnings of the monsters. He was a bit concerned that they hadn't evacuated yet, even if only temporarily. He followed the sergeant, sergeant Morales, to a building where a meeting was taking place regarding the plan and encountered a master sergeant who was unwilling to let him on board.

"I'm sorry lieutenant, this is a high risk mission. That train is a national asset. Not am track."

Ford rolled his head in frustration.

"We good to go?" The master sergeant asked sergeant Morales.

"Just about, sir."

"From the look of the casing on those minute men ICBM's, I'm guessing the digital module has been bypassed and you're prepping for a full analogue retrofit."

"Is my jaw supposed to drop? I get it, you're EOD," the master sergeant continued as he started walking towards the door.

"But I already got my crew and they know what they're doing."

"And we're pointing it at the monsters, right sarge?" Morales asked, receiving an affirmative smack on the chest from the master sergeant's clipboard.

Ford walked up to the master sergeant.

"When was the last time you let one of your guys put their fingers in a live bomb?"

The master sergeant rolled his eyes.

"Look this is what I do. This is my job."

The master sergeant turned and started to walk away.

"Master sergeant!" Ford called, causing him to turn around in frustration.

"My family is in the city. All right? I need to get on that train."

The master sergeant had a soft spot for family, so he reluctantly agreed to let Ford on the train. Ford got dressed into his military gear and prepared himself for what was to come. He knew he'd likely come into close contact with the MUTOs once their noses picked up the nuke, but he had to take the risk in order to get back to Elle and Sam. However, before he could leave, he had something to take care of.

—

_Date: May 22, 2014_

_Time: 1430_

_Location: San Francisco General Hospital_

—

*Ring*

*Ring*

"Hello? San Francisco General, this is Laura. How can I help you?" Laura, Elle's hospital coworker asked as she picked up the phone.

"Yes, she's here… All right."

She turned around, putting the other end of the line on hold as she spotted Elle.

"Elle, you have a phone call."

"Tell them to call back later, we're really busy."

"Elle, it's your husband."

Elle stopped in her tracks, looking over to Laura with a mixture of shock and concern. She rushed to the nearest phone and opened the line.

"Hello?" She said, a slight quiver in her voice.

"Elle," Ford said.

"Oh my God, Ford?" She said, tears already welling in her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm here Elle. Listen, the-"

"I've been trying to call you. I called in Hawaii and the phones suddenly went offline. I tried everything but-"

"Elle, I know. After what happened in Hawaii everything was shut down. But it's okay. I'm alright."

"You're sure?" She asked as tears began to flow down her cheeks.

"Yeah Elle, I'm okay. Listen, the military has a plan to deal with these things, and I'm going with them."

"Wait, you're what? You mean you're going to be going after those things?"

"Yeah, but listen I won't-"

"Ford please don't! You can't do this! I can't lose you to-"

"Elle!" Ford snapped.

Elle was quiet, but still fighting to breath steadily through her tears on her end of the line.

"Listen Elle, the plan only calls for me to help set up a bomb and get it to a certain location. Once it's there and ready to go, my job is done and I can come back to get you. I'll take you and Sam somewhere safe. Okay?"

Elle was silent.

"Elle?"

"Y-yeah, I'm here…"

"Do you understand what I just told you Elle?"

"Yes Ford. I understand."

"Okay, then stay strong okay."

"I'll try I just… I can't believe this is happening."

"I know baby, I know. I'm having trouble believing it too but it's happening. The only thing we can do now is move forward okay? I promise, once this is done, I'm coming to get you both."

"Okay."

"Elle, if something happens… If… If I don't make it," he started to say, but couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

"Ford?"

Elle started to panic.

"Ford? Please don't say that. You're scaring me. Please just, just come home safe."

"… I will Elle."

"Okay."

"I love you Elle. Tell Sam that daddy's coming soon for me all right?"

"I love you too, and I'll be sure to tell him," she said, forcing a smile.

"See you soon Elle."

"Be safe Ford," she said.

They both hung up the phone, with Elle drying off her tears and trying to keep herself calm as she began searching for Sam. Ford, on the other end, still had his hand on the phone after hanging it up. His head was pressed against the wall just to the side of it, and he grit his teeth at the thought of not being able to go back to his wife and son. He took a breath, and as he heard the call going out for everyone to get on the train he turned around and jogged over. He received a hand up from one of the other soldiers and hopped aboard the train as it made its way towards San Francisco.

—

_Date: May 22, 2014_

_Time: 1500_

_Location: USS Saratoga, trailing Godzilla_

—

Warning alarms began ringing, and the crew manning the observation screens began chattering between themselves until the admiral came in.

"He's diving sir!"

On the deck of the ship, several crewmen watched as Godzilla's back arched and his tail began to rise slightly further out of the water before his body disappeared beneath the sea. The waves created began approaching the ship, and they all grabbed hold of railings or whatever was near to steady themselves against the admiral sat at the planning table as the boat began to list, watching as a pencil rolled into the red phone beside him with one of his eyebrows arching slightly.

Godzilla appeared on screen.

"He's on a steady course, speed 35 knots and increasing. He's going to outrun us sir."

The admiral sighed in irritation, as losing eyes on Godzilla was by far the biggest problem of the day so far. At least the MUTOs were visible and could be tracked. If they lost sight of Godzilla on radar, the only thing they could do was hope he remained on course. If he ended up somewhere else for whatever reason, it'd be a disaster.

"What about the others?"

"Still on course and converging on San Francisco sir."

"Keep all eyes and ears open. I want solid communication at all times. Not one of these things escapes our sight, understood?"

"Yes sir!"

The admiral continued watching the screens until Godzilla separated from the Saratoga to the point where he was no longer on radar. The admiral closed his eyes in frustration that Godzilla had already escaped radar range, but his biggest concern was getting that warhead prepped and ready before the MUTOs found it and ruined everything.


	12. Chapter 10 - The Plan Has Not Changed

**Chapter 10 - The Plan Has Not Changed**

_Date: May 22, 2014_

_Time: 2100_

_Location: On the train approximately twenty miles from San Francisco_

—

Ford sat quietly as the night air began to grow a bit thicker as they drew closer to the bay. The smell of the sea crept up into his nostrils and was both haunting and reassuring at the same time. It felt good to know he was getting closer to his family, but it was a bit frightening to know that he was also getting closer to where the monsters were gathering. The thought of a nuclear warhead being so close to his family was also not a pleasant thought, but in order to destroy these things, they had to try.

As they continued along their journey towards San Francisco, sergeant Morales came over to Ford and asked him about why they had to use such a style of nuclear warhead.

"Well, the primary reason is because the MUTO's emp attacks can shut down and effectively disarm standard nuclear weapons which use any form of a timer system to detonate. You can't even get close to them without electronics going haywire. This however," he said, giving the nuke next to them a few pats.

"This is old school."

"Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin' eh?"

Ford gave the sergeant a nod and they both laughed a bit, but they were cut short by the sound of gunfire in the distance. The train screeched to a halt, making Ford and Morales as well as everyone else grab hold of railings to keep steady as the train came to a stop. The master sergeant got off the train and started trying to establish communication about what was going on before telling Morales to get over there and check things out. Ford decided to go with him, and as they got off the train they saw the bullets and some explosions going off in the distance beyond the mountain and the tunnel which lay ahead of them.

Ford and Morales both went ahead, with Ford standing in the mouth of the tunnel and Morales not far behind listening to the master sergeant trying to get ahold of the teams that were ahead of them. Whatever was going on obviously was not good and required attention to ensure the safety of both the warheads and the team protecting it.

As he approached the tunnel and began to enter it, Ford flipped on his flashlight. Morales was right behind him, along with two other soldiers who came to back them up and check to make sure the train tracks were secure. Their steps echoed softly, and as one of them kicked a stone by accident it sent reverberations through the tunnel which startled everyone. They all heaved a sigh and continued on. As they walked out of the other end of the tunnel, they saw the tracks ahead. They seemed in good condition, but none of them were willing to call it on sight alone.

"What do you think?" Ford asked.

"You want to take the top?" A soldier in the back asked.

"Sure, you two take bottom. Sergeant Morales, you come with me," Ford said.

Morales nodded and stayed with Ford while the other two descended into the valley below the tracks via a ladder on the side of the support beams. Ford and Morales walked very slowly, taking one step at a time so as not to fall through them to their deaths. However, sergeant Morales' nerves were being tested in the silence of the valley, and his foot slipped on the edge of one of the cross beams and he fell down. Luckily he kept his body across the tracks so as not to fall through, but his flashlight fell to the earth below.

"… Shit," he muttered.

The flashlight struck the ground below and shattered, the light petering out as the source inside was crushed. The other two soldiers immediately turned with weapons at the ready until they saw the light and looked up, shaking their heads.

"Sheesh."

The two of them continued on, but as they began to relax they saw the reflection of a reddish light approaching them. They turned towards the river beneath the tracks and saw what looked to be the remains of a tank on fire rushing towards them. They both jumped out of the way as the debris struck the shore, but then continued on its way downstream along with a line of flaming debris including jeeps, trees, and a few other objects. One of the soldiers shouldered his rifle and brought up a whistle and let out two sharp calls to Ford and Morales. He then repeated the call through the whistle before dropping it and bringing his weapon back up.

Ford and Morales continued on, and as they stepped out to near the middle of the tracks, they both became confident that the tracks were okay. When they saw the other end in tact, that was the last piece of reassurance they needed.

"All right, it looks clear," Ford said.

"Got it. I'll let the others know," Morales responded.

He got on the radio and told the train to get moving, to which they responded by blowing the horn a few times to signal their approach.

Before Morales could say anything more, Ford had turned around and told him to hit the deck. Morales turned around and saw that the female MUTO was now standing up and walking towards them along the side of the tracks. He ducked down, laying flat on his back as Ford lay nearby on his side with his weapon pointed at the female's head.

The giant creature let out a few chirps and growls as she inspected the tracks and moved about. She walked underneath the tracks, turning her head sideways to see what was there, before continuing on. She rose up along the other side of the tracks next to Ford and Morales, and as she stood up higher they could see what appeared to be a large sack of eggs on her lower abdomen. The female was beginning to turn towards them, but was stopped when she heard a sound in the distance. It was the train, and the female moved towards it disappearing into the fog. There was a bit of gunfire and one large bark from the MUTO, and then there was silence.

Ford and Morales continued to watch the tracks until an orange and red light appeared. It drew closer and closer until it was clear that it was the train, now on fire, racing towards them.

"Run!" Ford yelled.

The two of them took off, and as the train closed in a massive form struck the tracks throwing sergeant Morales down into the valley to his death. Ford turned to the side and jumped into off the tracks and into the water below, just barely making it into a section that was deep enough to cushion his fall. However, the train came down nearly on top of him which created a shockwave in the water that stunned him momentarily. He began to choke on water and fought his way to the surface where he was able to see the female MUTO snap the train in half and consume one of the two warheads that was there. The other had fallen into the river below, and Ford could do nothing about it as he slowly lost consciousness.

—

_Date: May 23, 2014_

_Time: 0840_

_Location: The river beneath the train tracks_

—

Ford awoke the next morning covered in sand and incredibly weak from the experience he had. Earlier that morning, before the sun had come up, he had awakened on the shore. He was just barely able to haul himself to his feet and trudged through the sandy shores to where he found the rest of his team. They were all dead, and Ford was so tired and weakened from what happened that he collapsed against a fallen tree. He didn't even have the strength to clean his face of all the sand and dirt that was covering it.

He coughed for breath, spitting out sand and dirt from his mouth as he turned his body to look at the carnage around him. Trees, the bodies of his men, parts of military transports and weapons strewn everywhere. It was a mess. Ford then saw something he wasn't expecting to see. It was the body of sergeant Morales. He'd been so out of it the previous night that he never noticed that his body was so close by. He dragged himself through the sand over to the sergeant, checking his vitals only to find that he was dead. Ford's heart sank. Morales was a good soldier. Young and eager to please. And now he was a casualty of a war straight out of a sic fi movie.

Ford checked the sergeant's pockets and found a picture of a woman. From what he could make out, the girl in the photo was around Morales' age and was likely either a girlfriend or a fiancé. She didn't have a ring on her fingers in the shot, but that didn't mean that something may have changed. Ford clenched his jaw and put the picture in his pocket, determined to make it back and tell this woman once he found her that Morales had died honorably in the field trying to protect his country from these monsters.

It was then that a helicopter flew overhead, and Ford watched it for a moment before hauling himself to his feet. Ford made his way across the beach and found that the other warhead was in tact and being loaded onto the helicopter. One of the other soldiers who had been helping the loading of the warhead looked out across the beach, and then crossed his hands over his chest in an "X" shape and giving the signal that he spotted someone to his superior officer. The officer turned to see what was going on and saw Ford stumbling towards them.

"Medic!" He yelled.

A short time later, around 0940, Ford watched as the nuke was flown in another direction as his helicopter continued on its course.

"Hey, where are they taking it?" He asked the officer next to him.

"They're taking it to San Francisco to use it as bait for the MUTOs. We're on our way to Oakland. We have new orders."

Meanwhile, back at the new headquarters for the military's battle strategy in Oakland, admiral Stenz had arrived and began asking around as to the current situation.

"So where's the MUTO now?" He asked.

"The female has just reached San Francisco city limits sir."

"And the male?"

"He's approaching fast sir, approximately thirty miles out."

"And where is Godzilla?"

"Last contact was five hours ago sir, but we know he's been moving on a steady course for San Francisco Bay traveling at a speed of nearly sixty knots and a depth of close to ten thousand feet. He'll be here within the hour sir."

"And the warhead?"

"Successfully recovered and en route to our forces in the city now sir. It's going to be loaded onto one of our ships and taken out to sea once it arrives."

"Good."

"Admiral," Serizawa asked from his seat nearby.

The admiral walked over to Serizawa.

"Yes sir?"

"Please don't do this."

"I understand your concerns doctor, but right now my priority is to safeguard our citizens."

Serizawa seemed to admit defeat on the subject and remained silent.

"How is the evacuation going?" Stenz asked.

"Evacuation has begun, and those who cannot be escorted out are taking refuge in the shelters sir."

"And the hospitals?"

"In the process of being emptied with priority transportation sir."

"Good. Let's get this done before all hell breaks loose," he said as he looked at the screens before him.

—

_Date: May 23, 2014_

_Time: 1120_

_Location: San Francisco General Hospital_

—

"Hey wait a minute, what's going on? Where are you taking them? These patients are my responsibility," Elle objected as soldiers began to wheel out the sick and injured in the hospital around her.

"Sorry ma'am, but the hospitals are being evacuated now with priority to those who can't move themselves. Keep it moving people!"

Elle stopped and heaved a sigh. She unconsciously ran her fingers through her hair as a way to try and keep herself calm with all the chaos that was beginning to erupt around her. She was relieved when Laura came up to her a moment later.

"Laura, where are you going?"

"We're helping to evacuate the women and children while the military loads and transports those who can't move themselves such as the sick and injured. We're going to load up in the busses outside and get out of the city as fast as possible. If you want, I can take Sam."

"No, no. Ford's coming. He should be here soon."

"All right. But if you change your mind, let me know. The busses leave in ten minutes."

Elle nodded as Laura walked away leading other children around her outside to the busses.

"Come on, where are you Ford?" She asked, running her hand through her hair again.

It wasn't long before Elle broke, racing to find Sam before picking him up in her arms and carrying him outside to find a bus. She didn't see any though, and she began to lose hope as she looked around frantically. Then, a bus came up behind her and she desperately waved her hand to stop the driver before he opened the door and let her put Sam on the steps.

"Oh Laura, thank God," Elle said when she spotted Laura sitting in the second seat.

"All right Sam, this is Laura. You know here right? She's mommy's work friend. Listen, she's going to take you with her for a while. Daddy is going to be here soon, and as soon as he's here I will come to find you right after okay? Will you be a good boy for me?"

Sam nodded.

"Okay sweetie. I love you," she said, giving him a hug and kissing his forehead several times.

Laura reached for Sam's hand and helped him to find a seat as the doors closed. Elle stood outside looking in through the glass as she tried to force a smile for Sam. She could not, however, hide her tears as they started welling in her eyes and flowing down her cheeks as the bus took off heading for the Golden Gate Bridge. Elle watched the bus disappear and fell to her knees and began weeping uncontrollably. She crossed her arms in front of her body and grabbed her shoulders, sitting upright as best she could while she cried. It was bad enough that Ford was not here, but now she had been forced to let Sam leave her side to give him a chance to get out of the city before things went from bad to worse… If that was possible anymore.


	13. Chapter 11 - Golden Gate Chaos

**Chapter 11 - Golden Gate Chaos, Let Them Fight**

_Date: May 23, 2014_

_Time: 1555_

_Location: San Francisco_

—

Most of the bus ride for Sam was uneventful and depressing. All around him the other kids were laughing and playing, but he sat alone in his seat in front of Laura who was trying to calm the other kids down as best she could. The bus had gotten stuck in traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge, and they'd sat there for nearly twenty minutes without being able to move so much as an inch. Even the driver was getting antsy to get moving, but nobody was doing so.

Suddenly, the driver saw a man in military attire approach him and try to communicate with him about how to proceed, but the children were all yelling so loudly that he couldn't hear a thing and couldn't concentrate enough to read the man's lips.

"Children, please! Quiet down!" He yelled.

But the children were all still yelling too loudly to care at this point. They seemed to think it was a game, or they were in the process of playing games amongst each other such as mercy, I spy, charades, and more. The driver tried to calm them down, and Laura tried to assist, but it was no use. The children were just too loud.

However, they were brought out of the frenzy by the feeling of the bus being shaken slightly. The trembling got the kids' attention as a tank began to roll up ahead. Multiple tanks, actually, began rolling up and taking positions along the side of the bridge. For what? The driver didn't want to guess. But as he and the kids looked out to the sea they saw a load of military vessels gathered as well. It looked like they were trying to block the Bay off from something. But what? Was there some other kind of ship inbound which they didn't want to allow into the city? The driver only shook his head and looked back at the kids as they began to grow chatty again.

Then, a sound came which silenced everyone.

A loud guttural growl echoed throughout the Bay and shook the Bridge enough for the kids and driver to feel the vibrations through the floor of the bus. They all looked out towards the water, and not a single child dared to speak a single word. Everyone wanted to know what made that sound, and everyone wanted to see it. The thought was exciting to the children, who pressed themselves up against the glass window of the bus to get a better view outside.

Suddenly a bird smacked into one of the windows, cracking it and causing all the children to jump and scream in terror and surprise. Hundreds of birds took wing and began flying over the bridge and away from the source of the sound as fast as possible. They headed inland, telling the driver and Laura that the source of the sound had come from the sea. The sound they heard had echoed and reverberated so much they didn't know where it had come from, but now they knew. Something was approaching from the sea.

Meanwhile on one of the vessels at the front of the fleet formation a crewman looked out to the water.

"There! Closing at 200 meters!" He yelled.

A large hump appeared in the water and began moving towards the ships. The water surface broke revealing the spiked hide of Godzilla, who was approaching fast.

"Brace!" One of the other crewmen yelled.

They all grabbed hold of something to steady themselves against an impact, but an impact never came. Instead, the figure of what looked to be Godzilla's back simply stopped in front of the ship and remained perfectly still. The crewmen all began to gather towards the front of the vessel to get a better view, and as they did so they immediately regretted the decision. The form before them sank a little into the water before lurching upwards to reveal that what they were looking at wasn't Godzilla at all. It was only his tail. It rose higher and higher into the air, nearly going vertical as the boat suddenly leaned towards it. They all turned around and saw Godzilla's spines beginning to break the surface between two other vessels which got caught in his spines as he began to surface. The ships started sliding off of his back and into the water, and the crew all started clamoring for the guns to open fire.

And that's exactly what they did.

The vessels began firing on Godzilla, but the enormous guns didn't even make the creature flinch. The struck his hide multiple times, but not a single reaction was read from the creature as he moved forward towards the bridge and began to surface. The vessels launched several more missiles which missed their targets and flew directly over the bridge. The driver of the bus Sam was on gunned the accelerator and drove through the military ranks and barricades in a desperate attempt to get himself and the other children away from this death trap as fast as possible, but one of the missiles struck the bridge's cabling and caused it to fall flat in front of his bus. He slammed on the brakes and could do nothing but watch as the soldiers went to the edge of the bridge and beseeched the vessels to case fire.

"Striker, cease fire immediately. There are civilians aboard the bridge. Repeat! There are civilians aboard the-"

They ducked in a rather fruitless act to try and brace for the impact of a missile headed right for them, but they were rescued rather promptly by the form of Godzilla beginning to stand up beside the bridge. His back rose up slowly, and all of the children stared dumbfounded at the enormous creature beside the bridge as his back straightened. The kids all looked up towards the creature's face and saw the ferocious reptilian maw open slightly as another of those low and guttural growls escaped it.

The driver flipped the car into reverse and began backing up before hitting the accelerator and driving around the fallen cable. He gunned it, and found that the center isle was open due to the military's interference, and so he rode it all the way off the bridge as the creature was again attacked by the forces at sea.

Godzilla's neck and head were struck several times by missiles, causing him to turn his head away from the explosions as he let out a roar that split the silence around him. The military forces on the bridge covered their ears, but it was useless. The roar was just too loud, and many of them began bleeding from the ears as they fell to the ground with their heads ringing and their hearing rapidly decreasing to nothing but silence save for the ringing in their heads. It was maddening, but they were helpless against it. Godzilla's right claw unconsciously reached over to the bridge's cabling and curled around it as Godzilla straightened himself out and turned his attention towards the military vessels firing missiles at him.

His mouth curled into a snarl as the ship nearest to him fired a blast right at his chest. The monster flinched lightly, and then looked slowly at the vessel as he pulled his lips back revealing his teeth. His mouth opened and he roared at the vessel, launching forward through the water as he brought his right claw down onto its central section and literally smashed it into two pieces. The splash created by his attack was nearly two hundred feet high and caused numerous waves to rock the other vessels nearby. Godzilla straightened out his posture and turned to the other vessels, releasing a roar in their direction as he stomped one step closer to them.

The warning didn't seem to be received, and they continued to open fire. Godzilla kept the snarl on his face as he ducked his head and slowly went down into a crouch position. His hands disappeared beneath the water, presumably touching the ground, before Godzilla suddenly jumped forward with surprising speed and body slammed one of the larger battleships in front of him. The vessel was completely taken under save for one small section towards the bow which snapped away and remained afloat for a few seconds before sinking to join the rest of the ship. Godzilla was now under the water as well, and the vessels had to cease firing as they tried to get a bead on him with sonar. However, he was too close to get truly accurate readings, and before they knew what was happening, one of the destroyers was suddenly lifted out of the water by Godzilla's spines.

The sharp objects protruding from Godzilla's back cut the ship in two, sending both halves into the water around him as he reached out and used both hands to grab the edge of another battleship next to him. He began slowly pulling the ship under the water, his claws digging into the hull as he forced it beneath the waves. The muscles in Godzilla's chest and shoulders flexed and rippled as he forced the vessel lower and lower into the water before finally letting go. It popped up to the surface like a cork, but Godzilla wasn't finished yet. He leaned his head back and opened his mouth, slamming it down into the ship and taking off the frontal fourth of the vessel. It snapped away in Godzilla's jaws as he lifted it high out of the water and into the air before throwing it with a flick of his head in the direction of another destroyer nearby. The thrown chunk missed its target, but not by much. The waves created sent the other vessel back several meters as Godzilla slowly turned his head towards the other vessels.

He let out another roar before standing up and watching in silence.

The vessels did not open fire, and Godzilla turned away from them and walked towards the Golden Gate Bridge. As he came right up to it, he looked down and saw all of the cars and buses on it as well as the military vehicles and soldiers. He didn't know what these things were, but it didn't matter anymore. Godzilla took a single step forward and his chest crashed through the bridge with ease. He stomped through letting out another loud roar of supremacy as he stomped his way towards the city through the fog.

Watching the live feeds from Oakland, admiral Stenz had given the order for the ships to retreat. It was clear that nothing would stop Godzilla from reaching his ultimate objective. The admiral let out a sigh of defeat as he bowed his head for the lives that were lost in Godzilla's attacks. He looked around the room to the stunned and horrified faces of the soldiers around him, and nodded towards the screens as a gesture for them to get back to work. With that, he walked outside and found Serizawa standing there watching the horizon.

"This alpha predator of yours doctor. You really think he has a chance?"

Serizawa was silent for a moment.

"The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in our control… And not the other way around," he said, giving a subtle nod.

"Let them fight," he said with confidence.

Meanwhile, back at in San Francisco Bay, the ships watching Godzilla's disappearance into the fog were horrified when they heard another sound echoing through the skies. They all looked around, wondering if it was another of Godzilla's roars, but it wasn't. It was clear that it wasn't Godzilla, as the sound came from all around in the skies above their heads.

They looked up just in time to see a large pulse erupt from beyond the clouds, and all of their planes and helicopters in the area suddenly went down as the ships themselves lost power.

Elle had begun making her way to one of the subway shelters when she saw a soldier descend via parachute through the fog towards her location. That was before what could be presumed to be his plane smashed into a building nearby. Elle and the others around her began to panic at the sight, and she backed away several feet towards a nearby building hoping to find some general shelter from any further plane crashed that might appear in the area.

Back out at sea, planes were falling all around to the water with soldiers parachuting to safety and into the water. The men aboard one of the remaining vessels watched as an F-22 fell to its doom in the watery depths of San Francisco Bay before hearing that sound again. It was a high pitched cry, as they looked up they saw the form of the Male MUTO descending rapidly on their location. All of the soldiers began to panic as the creature performed a dive bomb onto one of the other ships with its mouth wide open. It disappeared beneath the waves, only to return a few moments later carrying the remains of the ship as well as the warhead which had made it to the Bay and had been prepped for its transport out to sea to be used for the plan to lure the MUTOs away.

But now it was too late. The male MUTO was already ripping the warhead free of the ships remains, and then flew off into the city. It flew for several minutes before reaching the edge of the city where it saw a giant plume of smoke approaching. He landed on the roof of a skyscraper and set the warhead in one of its smaller arms and let out three cries, two short chirps and one longer one. The call was returned, and it picked up the warhead in its mouth once more and flew towards the smoke. When he landed, he only had to wait a few seconds for the face of the female to appear through the cloud ahead. The two approached one another slowly, cautiously. The male held the warhead out as a gift, allowing the female to inspect it before the two shared a moment where they pressed their snouts together. The effect produced was a synchronization of bioluminescent flashes along their eyes and necks, and then the female took the warhead gently in her mouth and brought it up to the egg sack on her stomach. The sack glowed in response, indicating it had the desired amount of radiation for them to feed on, and the female began digging a nest for her expected brood.

The male, on the other hand, took off to engage the single greatest threat to their future and their survival: Godzilla.


	14. Chapter 12 - HALO Jump, Find The Warhead

**Chapter 12: HALO Jump, Find The Warhead**

_Date: May 23, 2014_

_Time: 1615_

_Location: Military Headquarters in Oakland_

—

"Everyone… We have a crisis on our hands," admiral Stenz announced.

All of the soldiers and crew in the room watched him, each one carrying a face of dread.

"The nuclear warhead was successfully loaded onto one of our ships in San Francisco Bay and armed as planned before the MUTO managed to locate it and take it, sinking the ship in the process."

The others looked to each other and back to the admiral, not daring to say a single word.

"I have just received word that the warhead was armed with only ninety minutes on the timer, which leaves us with approximately seventy minutes left to find it and disarm it before San Francisco becomes a crater."

A few faces went pale, swallowing the lumps in their throats at the thought.

"Captain, what do have to work with?"

"Sir. The MUTO emp capabilities render all manner of transport useless save for one. A high altitude leap."

"A HALO jump?" Stenz asked.

"Yes, sir."

The admiral nodded, and it was at that point that Ford was brought in from his checkup with the medic.

"Admiral Stenz, this is lieutenant Ford Brody. He was the only EOD officer to survive the train incident."

The admiral shook hands with Ford.

"Glad to see you safe son, but we need your help again."

"Yes, sir," Ford responded.

The admiral looked to the captain and asked him to gather all of his men for a briefing, Ford included, and then they'd get them loaded up and in the air as soon as possible. It took all of two minutes to gather the teams, and Ford joined them outside as the admiral stood before them for the briefing.

"Gentlemen you are being sent in via HALO jump. Now I realize not all of you have hands on experience," he started.

Ford looked around for a moment at the faces of the others around him, wondering if they were really ready for what was to come.

"But frankly, none of us have ever faced a situation quite like this one before. But I would not be asking any one of you to take this leap if I did not have complete faith in your ability to succeed," the admiral continued.

Ford looked back to the admiral.

"Your courage will never be more needed than it is today."

Ford took in a breath, letting it out on a sigh through his nose as he nodded in acceptance of the plan to himself. The sooner they got in the air and made it into San Francisco, the sooner they would find the nuke and he would be that much closer to ensuring his family was safe.

"Godspeed gentlemen," the admiral said, looking to the captain.

"Alright everyone, before you leave know this: we have no extraction plan. If you don't make it out, you won't be coming back. This is a one way highway into Hell gentlemen, so good luck and stay frosty. Dismissed!"

Ford and the others all geared up as fast as they could and made their way to the nearest transport plane. Ten minutes of flight time to their required altitude, flying faster than regulation and pushing the plane to its limits, saw them to their designated altitude of thirty-thousand feet. It was well above the MUTO's sphere of influence as far as their natural emp capabilities. The back of the plane opened, and Ford stood up to fix his helmet and goggles into place as he waited for the signal to leap out of the plane with the others.

The alarm blared, and the soldiers all ran to the back of the plane and took the leap.

Within moments, the only sound in Ford's mind were those of his own breathing and the sounds of the wind blowing passed his ears. It was an eerie silence save for the wind. Falling at terminal velocity caused the air around his head to cancel all sound from being able to make it through with clarity. Ford looked down towards the clouds below him and saw occasional flashes of lightning which didn't bode well for their descent.

The fall was almost like slow motion for Ford. Every moment that ticked by tugged at his mind and his sense of anxiety to get to the ground as fast as possible and find the nuke to get it disarmed or out of the city if they couldn't disarm it. His sense of time was slightly distorted by his adrenaline, but each moment felt like a minute to Ford before he and the others finally broke through the clouds and saw the city of San Francisco had been turned into a sea of flames. It was disheartening to see so much destruction beneath them.

Their descent came with its first tragedy when a bolt of lightning struck one of the soldiers near to Ford, killing him almost instantly and making his body go limp and turn onto its back with arms and legs flailing upwards in the wind as he raced towards the ground. There was nothing they could do now. All they could do was focus forward and continue their mission. Ford looked down just in time to see the image of Godzilla fighting with the male MUTO. Ford just missed the male MUTO being thrown off and away by Godzilla as the larger monster opened its mouth to roar. Ford still heard no sound though, even at the incredible volume Godzilla was capable of producing.

Ford reached the point where he opened his chute and began descending slowly towards the ground. He guided his chute through numerous skyscrapers, some in tact and others demolished. He went forward and had to steer clear of one building which began collapsing as he approached. The site was horrifying, almost as if the descending building was aiming for him and changing its trajectory to keep pace with his descent. He narrowly avoided ripping the chute on the edge of the building roof as it passed him and fell to the ground beneath him. He let out a deep breath as he focused eyes front to keep watch on his descent point. Once his feet touched the ground, his chute was off, his weapon up, and he was ready to move.

He jogged through the streets towards the rally point, hearing the male MUTO's roar coming from behind him and seeing the shadow of Godzilla's spines to his left against another building. The sounds of the monsters roaring and fighting in the background was nothing short of terrifying. Ford was a good sized man at around 6' with a good amount of muscle, but compared to these monsters he didn't even register. He was but an ant beneath their feet not even worthy of being called a distraction.

He kept his gun up despite its total lack of efficiency against these creatures, and as he kept running forward he heard a sound he was hoping never to hear. The sound of Godzilla and the MUTO engaging in combat very close by rang out through the fiery night sky before Godzilla came smashing through a building ahead of Ford bringing the entire structure down as the monstrous creature recovered its balance in time to reach out with his left arm and shield himself from a dive bomb by the male MUTO. Godzilla grabbed it by the shoulder in his mouth and whipped it around to throw it off to the other side before stomping through another building after it.

Ford had been so close to the falling debris that he actually got struck in the back by a few stray pieces of it. Thankfully they were relatively small and only knocked him down, but still it was far too close for comfort. Ford took a moment to catch his breath before he got to his feet and climbed over the debris. It took about a minute and a half to two minutes to get over it, but once he was cleared he saw his teammates ahead and ran to catch up with them. Once he made it, they took a moment to do a headcount.

"Everyone here?" The senior officer asked.

"Everyone except for Stills, sir," another soldier responded.

"I saw Bravo team heading off to the east down those streets," another soldier added.

"Alright, where's the nuke?"

One of the others got out a device to track the radiation of the nuke, and pointed up the road.

"It's about one kilometer away sir, up this road."

"Right, move out people!"

Everyone hustled down the street, jogging at a good pace as they neared their destination. More roaring, explosions, and the decimation of buildings around them continued to toy with their fears and anxiety as a unit. Every time a roar went out, they stopped for a second to see where it was coming from. When they heard a building go down, they braced for impact as it struck the ground. They continued on for about five minutes longer before reaching their destination. However, they hit something of an issue. The female MUTO was in their way tending to her nest as she laid the last batch of eggs into the underground.

"Everyone hold position," the senior officer called as quietly as he could.

The soldiers took up positions behind cars and debris, hoping she would leave soon so they could reach the warhead.


	15. Chapter 13 - The Final Battle (Human)

**Chapter 13A - The Final Battle (Human)**

_Date: May 23, 2014_

_Time: 1652_

_**Time To Detonation: 32 mintes**_

_Location: Streets of San Francisco_

—

For and the other soldiers were hunkered down watching the female MUTO lay the last of her eggs and settle into what looked like a seated position. It wasn't good that she was getting comfortable. If she didn't move or give them a way to access the nest and the nuke, they were screwed.

Right about that moment, Ford turned his head and looked over his shoulder.

There was a tremor in the ground that got his attention. Most of the world around them was quiet, but that tremor gave an indication that something was coming. He had a good guess as to what, or rather, who, it was as well. He sat with his back against the car he had been leaning against and watched as the form of Godzilla's tail slowly began to cross his field of vision above the houses around him and swoop over them through the sky. A flash of light illuminated Godzilla's form momentarily as Ford and the others watched him approach slowly but with purpose. Godzilla was approximately three hundred meters away, give or take twenty, and knelt down almost to a crouch.

"Cover your ears!" The senior officer called in a forced whisper.

Ford and the others did as they were told, doing everything they could to prepare for what was sure to be an unpleasant experience.

Godzilla leaned forward and pushed his hands forward slightly. His chest puffed up as his head reared back, and then his arms were thrust backwards as his head lurched forward and he unleashed a roar of challenge to the female MUTO. Even at over three hundred meters, Godzilla's roar was deafening. Ford and the others struggled to keep their ears plugged as best they could, but the sound was still causing havoc among them. The ground beneath their feet began to rumble as the wind from his breath hit them and pushed them into the cars they were leaning against. As the roar came to an end, the female MUTO turned towards Godzilla and unleashed a roar of her own, further adding to the soldier's misery.

She stepped over them and began walking towards Godzilla as Ford and the others used sheer force of will to make it to their feet and begin their real mission.

"All right, up, up, up! Let's move!"

The soldiers all stood up and ran towards the nest with Ford looking over his shoulder in time to see Godzilla and the MUTO engage in combat. They were charging one another with Godzilla using his hands to lock the MUTO's shoulders back while he bit down on its neck and pushed it backwards through several buildings and beyond Ford's view.

"All right, so where is it?"

"It's down there sir," a soldier responded.

"Okay. Let's get down fast!"

The soldiers clambered down as quickly as they could and found the nuke not far away inside the nest just beyond a fallen and flattened bus. It was hanging from the ceiling, suspended by what looked to be a line of eggs which extended to the ceiling of the chamber all the way along the walls. It was a disgusting sight to be sure, but they rushed forward and began working on bringing the nuke down. In order to reach it and access the warhead, they had to drag a few obstacles over to it so they could reach high enough. Ford went up and unlocked the warhead, accessing the control center for the timer.

"How much time do we have lieutenant?"

"We have twenty-seven minutes sir!" Ford responded.

"All right, let's get this thing down and get it disarmed."

The soldiers worked together to pull the warhead free and set it down as gently as possible on the ground.

"Alright lieutenant, you're up."

Ford knelt down next to the warhead and check the casing over the timer, but it was jammed. He grabbed hold of it and tried to pry it open, but it was no good. He looked back at the senior officer and shook his head.

"Damn… All right, let's get it up and to the docks. There has to be a ship there we can use to get this thing out to sea before it detonates. Let's move!"

The others responded with a loud "Yes, sir!" and began working together to lift the warhead and carry it back out of the nest the way they had come. They had some difficulty getting it over some of the debris in their path, but were ultimately able to get it out of the nest and into the streets.

Ford, however, was not convinced they were through here yet.

He looked back to the eggs along the walls and ceiling, and saw the tiny MUTOs developing within. He imagined them growing up and overrunning the world with their emp capabilities and their insatiable hunger for radiation. His father, Joe, had said it would be like being sent back to the stone age, and he was right. If these things were allowed to develop and hatch, there'd be no telling how far humanity would fall.

Ford looked around as the other soldiers called to him, and he spotted a fuel pipe hatch which he opened. The fuel began spilling out of the pipe and filling the nest floor, and there was some debris on fire nearby. Ford hoofed it out of the nest as quickly as he could, but was not fast enough to escape the initial blast of the fuel erupting into flame. Ford was thrown into the air almost two meters and came down hard on his right leg and wrist. He pulled his arm in close from the pain and crawled backwards away from the flaming nest.

After a few moments, he noticed the female MUTO making her way back to the nest from the left. He remained dead silent, watching her as she knelt down to inspect the nest and her now dead and burning babies. She started letting out cries of agony, and Ford backed up into more debris hoping to get away from her. But as luck would have it, he backed up into debris that was unstable and sent a small piece of it crashing to the ground next to him. The sound attracted the female MUTO's attention, who leaned over to get a look at him as he lay there helpless against her.

The MUTO let out a growl and started opening her mouth bringing it closer and closer to Ford's position until a bright blue light started to emanate from nearby.

Ford looked over to the side, as did the female MUTO, and they saw that the small spines on Godzilla's tail were lighting up. There was the sound of something building, like energy piling up as the lights began to ascend up his back. Godzilla was standing up now, and facing the female MUTO as she took a step towards him and let out a roar. Godzilla's neck lit up, and a light appeared inside of his mouth from his throat. His chest puffed up and Ford thought he was roaring again, but what followed was something altogether different and much more spectacular.

Godzilla leaned forward with great force and sent a tremendous burst of energy from his mouth. It was a bright blue stream of energy, looking almost like fire but with a central beam that was letting out a lot of power. Ford could feel the heat and the force generated by the blast as the female MUTO was thrown back against a building. She tried to recover and attack Godzilla, but he unleashed another blast at her chest and neck knocking her once again against the building and down to the ground. Ford scrambled backwards and made it to his feet.

He limped away from the battle zone and followed the streets to the docks as Godzilla and the MUTOs continued their battle behind him. The roaring and sounds of collapsing buildings did not die out in the slightest, and Ford had to limp his way through the streets as quickly as he could before his adrenaline caught up with him and he was finally able to jog a little bit. However, something interesting that stopped Ford was that Godzilla had fallen nearby. He looked over to his side and saw Godzilla trying to prop himself up. Godzilla's breathing was labored and his eyes opened and fell upon Ford.

Ford almost flinched from the sight, but Godzilla's eyes didn't betray any kind of malicious intent which assisted in calming Ford down. Rather than a monster bent on Ford's destruction, Ford saw that Godzilla was exhausted and in pain. He wasn't just hurting on the outside either. There was an inner pain in Godzilla's eyes as well. Ford didn't have much time to figure out why before Godzilla's eyes closed and he disappeared into the smoke that started to surround him. Ford swallowed before taking a few breaths and continuing on.

It took him a few minutes, and by the time he made it to the docks the female MUTO was already there attacking his team as they tried to load up the nuke on a boat and lead it out to sea. Ford watched as they tried to shoot her, to no avail. She swiped at the boat and knocked the men aboard away before turning around to face an RPG launcher. She caught a round in the side of the face and walked over to the docks as Ford ran as quickly as he could to get to the boat while she was distracted. There was nothing he could do for his team at this point except finish the mission.

They were swatted away like flies and chomped down upon on the docks as they kept up the firing on the MUTO. Ford made it aboard the boat and fired it up, checking the warhead and finding only thirteen minutes left on the clock. He grabbed a pole and pushed off of the docks once he got the engine going, and as soon as he was free he set the GPS on auto and let it go. He started to turn around but was knocked to the ground by a pulse of air which shut the boat down. It was on its way out to sea, but was now moving solely because of its earlier momentum.

Ford flipped himself over and onto his back as he looked up and saw the female MUTO standing over the boat looking down at him. She started leaning in, intent on finishing Ford and regaining the nuke so she could prepare for another cycle. But as she leaned down, she was suddenly stopped in her tracks and she trembled and growled in pain. Ford looked up and over her shoulder and found that Godzilla was biting down on the back of her neck before he suddenly pulled her away from the boat. For was so tired at this point that what followed was rather blurry, but he knew that that blue light had come back. Godzilla must have used the beam attack again, as the next sound Ford heard was that of a giant object falling into the water.

Godzilla let out a roar to the skies above and Ford heard something else fall into the water. He opened his eyes in time to see Godzilla walk back to shore, seemingly just as exhausted as Ford. Ford fell onto his side, and saw that Godzilla too had collapsed from exhaustion on the shore. The boat had since fired up again now that the MUTO was dead, and was back on course out to sea.

Ford's world went silent.

He lay on his back and looked up at the night sky. It was clear now, with little to no cloud cover and he could see the stars above twinkling as the boat moved steadily onward. After a moment or two, Ford's vision was overcome by light, and he shielded his eyes against the source above him. He was just barely able to make out that it was from a helicopter, and the next thing he knew there was a soldier with him who was putting him in a harness. Ford was the lifted up to the helicopter and pulled inside by the others. Once he was seated and strapped in, Ford looked out at the city again before passing out.


	16. Chapter 14 - The Final Battle (Godzilla)

**Chapter 13B - The Final Battle (Godzilla)**

_Date: May 23, 2014_

_Time: 1618_

_Location: San Francisco_

—

Godzilla had broken through the Golden Gate Bridge not long ago and now stomped his way through the Exploratorium as he lumbered forward and took his first steps in San Francisco. The rain pouring down around him was from a passing storm front, and caused the city and surrounding area to become bogged down by mist and fog. Godzilla checked his surroundings, sniffing at the air before his attention was drawn straight ahead as the male MUTO landed on a building several hundred meters away from him. The MUTO let out a roar of warning, but Godzilla was unmoved. He snorted through his nose, brushing off the warning as he stepped forward. The male MUTO growled and lunged off of the building, taking flight on a direct course for Godzilla.

The monstrous reptile stomped forward with a mild roar as the MUTO tried to smash into his chest. Godzilla bent forward so that his face was level with the MUTO's as he bit down on its snout. The MUTOs mouth was now clamped shut in Godzilla's jaws as he lifted it up and threw it downwards towards the ground. However the MUTOs long forearms with hooked ends had been rearing up and slammed down on the top of Godzilla's head. The hooked ends caught on his lower jaw which pulled him down as well. The MUTO was able to use its grip on his lower jaw to push itself up into the air as Godzilla fell onto his stomach to the ground.

The MUTO then flapped to gain some altitude and then came down as hard as he could with his pointed claws. They slammed into Godzilla's hide, and while painful to Godzilla it was not hard enough or strong enough to pierce him. Instead, the MUTO's attack more or less bounced off of Godzilla's hide and he leaped into the air to try again. Godzilla rolled slightly to the left side, putting his spines in line with the MUTO's arms. The MUTO tried to pull back, but it was too late. His arms came down hard on Godzilla's spines, cutting into his right forearm nearly halfway before he managed to leap away and gain some distance as he flew off into the city.

Godzilla rose slowly. Pushing himself up with his hands into a kneeling position, Godzilla shook his head before rising all the way and standing up straight. His head just cleared the first row of skyscrapers in front of him, and he was able to make out the MTUO disappearing deeper into the city ahead. He huffed through his nose, sending a small billow of steam into the air as he trudged forward. There were still hundreds of people beneath him scrambling to find shelters and to make it to their vehicles to evacuate the city. However, with all the traffic out of the city cutting every route out off, there was little they could do. Godzilla didn't even register their screams as he trampled through them. He was fixed on his course to find the MUTO, and nothing would stop him from doing so.

He continued onward, passing a few buildings as the rain began to cease and the rainclouds moved out into the seas. They were soon replaced in the skies by much larger, denser clouds. No rain would be falling from them, but they were there all the same and creeping in fast. Godzilla tromped through The Embarcadero and made his way down to Broadway Street where he stopped to watch and listen. The male MUTO had disappeared, but Godzilla could smell that he was still here. His nostrils flared as he took in a big breath, and he tilted his head to continue listening. He could hear the barks and cries of the MTUO echo through the tall buildings a distance away, but he couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from.

He walked through the Sydney G Walton Square to Davis Ct where he broke past a few large buildings onto Washington Street. With skyscrapers just ahead, Godzilla had to be careful. He knew the MUTO was at an advantage being able to fly in this kind of environment. He hunkered down slightly and continued to listen to the barks and growls echoing around him. He walked forward just a tiny bit further, stopping right next to the vistaSouth building. A small clearing with a few trees lay ahead, and Godzilla moved forward until he stood in the middle of it. Large buildings now surrounded him, and Godzilla began to feel more and more that the MUTO was closing in. He heard a bark off to the right side, and turned to face it just past the Maritime Plaza.

There was silence following, until Godzilla's ears picked up the sound of wingbeats behind him. However, it was too late to turn to face it. The MUTO bared down on Godzilla's head, grabbing onto his neck and dragging him forward until it managed to trip him up with the forward momentum and throw him headfirst into the Three Embarcadero Center. Godzilla crashed through the towering structure and fell onto his stomach with the building collapsing on and around him. The debris covered his body and slammed into his back and head. Godzilla let out a growl of annoyance as he shook it off and slowly rose to his feet. The MUTO had disappeared again, a hit and run tactic. Godzilla lumbered forward beyond the now collapsed building towards the One building, checking around the corners of other skyscrapers on his way and stopping just short of the One building.

The MUTOs wing beats echoed around Godzilla, and he turned around. His swinging tail sliced through the bases of a few of the skyscrapers around him, including the One building which destroyed its integrity and brought it tumbling down behind him. Godzilla was just far enough away that it missed him on its way, and he didn't even flinch as it fell just off to his right side.

He snarled as he then had an idea.

Godzilla walked up to each of the major skyscrapers around him and used his tail to slam the base and bring the buildings down. Once or twice he got too close and had to dodge the buildings on their way down, but overall Godzilla managed to avoid their destruction as they were brought down one by one. Finally, Godzilla had cleared most of the larger skyscrapers from his immediate surroundings, giving him a much wider field of view with which to combat the MUTO. The sound of wingbeats were more pronounced now, and didn't echo as much without the interference of the other buildings. Godzilla waited patiently, and saw a flap of the wing out of the corner of his eye, but rather than turn to face it he continued to look straight ahead. He could hear the MUTOs movements, and he heard it trying to perform the same attack as before.

The MUTO began to race towards Godzilla from the back, aiming once again to grab his head and throw him to the ground off of the momentum of the strike, but Godzilla stepped forward with his right foot and used it as a push off point to lean his body and his head backwards and smash it into the chest of the MUTO. The blow bypassed the MUTOs outstretched arms and knocked it from the sky to the streets below, allowing Godzilla to straighten himself out and turn around to face his foe. The MUTO scrambled to its feet and jumped into the air to get away, and Godzilla just barely missed grabbing its wing in his mouth as his jaws snapped shut sending a sharp sound cutting through the air. Godzilla opened his mouth and stretched his jaws before closing it again and watching the MUTO take off for the center of the city.

Godzilla gave chase, and by the time he caught up to the MUTO they were in the open along Market Street next to the Four Seasons Hotel. Godzilla and the MUTO began grappling with one another, and each time the fight seemed to go in Godzilla's favor the MUTO would take off for a new area of town. The fight dragged on for nearly half an hour until most of the northeaster sector of San Francisco lay in ruins. Dozens of buildings had caught fire or were outright demolished. Godzilla and the male MUTO were still engaged as the night descended and the lightning flashes above began to bath the city in brief moments of light. Godzilla grabbed the MUTO in his mouth and threw it away from himself, letting out a roar as something strange caught his eye. It was a stream of smoke, and some kind of tiny wing shaped object floating down into the city.

Ignoring it any further, Godzilla continued on to keep pace with the MUTO. Numerous skyscrapers were still standing, giving the MUTO enough time and space to hide and rest while Godzilla was forced to continue moving to keep up with it. Godzilla could feel himself beginning to get worn down, but it was not enough to stop him from continuing. The MUTO flew by a few more times getting in a few hit and run shots, but Godzilla kept himself on track and continued to engage whenever it showed itself.

Finally, Godzilla managed to get a good shot in on the MUTO as it charged him again. He leaned his head back to avoid the hooked arms and then lunged forward with his mouth agape. His jaws clamped down on one of the male's smaller inner arms, and the sounds of cracking bones and tearing flesh filled the air as the MUTO shrieked in pain. Godzilla's jaws clamped tighter and tighter with the MUTO frantically smashing and stabbing him with its claws until at last Godzilla's mouth snapped completely shut. The MUTOs small arm broke away from its body in Godzilla's jaws as the MUTO flapped its wings and flew away into the city. Godzilla squeezed his jaws shut even tighter until the extra bit of the arm fell away and his mouth opened to let the rest of it fall to the ground. He let out a roar before giving chase once again. It was time to finish the male off once and for all.

Then, something else caught Godzilla's attention.

There was a new scent on the wind, and it carried more of a sense of danger than the male MUTO he'd been fighting. Godzilla could smell the female, and his head turned slowly towards Chinatown as he began his march in that direction. The area was beginning to get bogged down by fog as he got closer to the water, and he had to stop and pick up the scent again after a few moments. However, as he turned around whipping his tail over the roofs of several buildings beneath him, he spotted the female MUTO's silhouette against the fiery backdrop behind her. Godzilla took a step forward and leaned in, kneeling down slightly as he took in a deep breath. He leaned forward, unleashing a roar of challenge to the female before him who promptly accepted the challenge and began to walk towards him.

She was much larger than the male, and Godzilla took into account the fact that when upright she was nearly as tall as he was. However, Godzilla's confidence was not lacking, and as they engaged he grabbed her shoulders and bit her neck forcing her back through a skyscraper and through the city. He dragged her further and further, pushing her back despite her struggles to dig her feet into the ground to stop him. She ended up toppling down as she went through a building just a little smaller than she was and fell onto her back. Godzilla's foot came up and stomped down hard on her chest. She let out a roar of pain and Godzilla stomped her chest again, this time harder. Godzilla was preparing for something when he was suddenly grabbed by the neck and thrown off to the side and dragged away from the female by the male who had returned to continue the fight.

Godzilla was just getting his bearings when the female suddenly rammed into his side, sending him smashing through another medium sized skyscraper to the ground. The building came down on top of him with the two MUTOs both smashing him with their hooked forearms. Godzilla let out a roar as he made it to a crouch and snapped his jaws at the male to make it back off a bit. He turned his attention to the female and roared at her again, but the male didn't give him much time to prepare as it came in and slammed its hooked claw down across his neck and broke skin. Godzilla's neck was sliced, sending a small trickle of blood down his flesh as his head turned to the male. The female followed suit and began stabbing at him with her claws as well. She raised her arm up and sent it down with tremendous force, slashing into Godzilla's right shoulder and cutting deep enough to draw more of a stream of blood out of him.

Godzilla cried out in pain as the two continued their combined attack against him. Each hit was painful, but only the female's attacks regularly drew blood. It wasn't much at first, but she eventually caught on that stabbing the same spot would draw more and more. Godzilla's right hip was gashed just above the joint and he had another good one on the right side of his chest, though it was smaller. The male's attacks were only really good to help keep Godzilla down between the female's attacks, as his claws were too small to draw blood on any regular basis. Still, Godzilla was all but helpless against their combined attacks as he continued to receive a severe beating.

Luckily for Godzilla, the female's attention was drawn away by the sound of an explosion not far away towards her nest. She stopped attacking Godzilla long enough to rush to the nest, and the male gave one final jab at him before following suit. Godzilla lay on the ground motionless as he clenched his jaw against the pain. His eyes had been closed to protect them against taking damage, but opened now opened to survey the environment. He saw the MUTOs leaving just beyond a few buildings ahead, but Godzilla could not yet rise to give chase. His body was in too much pain, and his eyes closed again. He fought to bring himself to his feet, and finally managed to find the strength to rise. He could only just prop himself up at first, but after a moment to catch his breath and force out the pain, he made it to his feet.

As he did so, he was able to see the female ahead looking at something near her nest. Godzilla had had enough, and his mouth curled into a snarl as he began focusing his remaining energy. The small spines along his tail began glowing, sending out a blue light into the darkness around him. A crackling sound began to echo around them as the energy continued to build to higher and higher levels. The female looked over at his tail as it rose and fell, and her eyes followed the light up his back and spines until she was looking at Godzilla directly. His head reared back and his chest puffed out, and as he lurched forward he opened his mouth and sent out a burst of his atomic breath attack. The beam which erupted from his mouth struck the female dead on in the center of the chest, causing her to fly backwards as she struggled to gain control against his attack. The beam ceased for a moment, and as the female gained control and came forwards, he let loose again into her chest and neck.

The female fell to the ground in great pain as her flesh sizzled and crackled from taking the full force of the attack. Godzilla came forward, but was then caught in the back of the head by the male MUTO once again. He turned around and chased it to a building where he swiped at it with his right claw, but it evaded and continued to fly away. Godzilla chased it to another section where a few skyscrapers helped it to gain a slight advantage again, but as it came through and grappled with Godzilla, he managed to bite it on the shoulder just below the neck and fling it around in a circle. As it was released it pushed off a building and continued flying around, coming back around for another attack.

Godzilla watched it like a hawk and snarled as it turned to come back around at him. He stepped across his body with his left foot so he was sideways to the MUTO before turning as fast as he could and slamming his tail into the creature. The MUTO was thrust with earth shattering force into a skyscraper, skewering its body on the beams and edges of the debris that followed and pinning it into the hole created by the attack. The MUTO let out a few cries of pain before it slowly died, the light leaving its eyes for good.

Godzilla watched the MUTO as its life ebbed away, and his head fell as he struggle to get his breath back. However, Godzilla did not anticipate the enormous skyscraper that dwarfed even him in size coming down on top of him. Godzilla cried out in pain into the night as he was buried beneath rubble. Godzilla was out for a moment, but quickly regained consciousness long enough to shake himself free of the debris which had buried him. His hand came up to support him as he tried to at least come to a knee, but it was no use. He could only lay there. Godzilla breathed heavily and his body throbbed at the pain from his wounds. He opened his eyes and looked down, and he saw that he was nearly face to face with a human standing in the streets.

Godzilla didn't know what the human was doing or why it was there, but he sensed something from this human. Something familiar. It was pain. This human was in pain, just as he was. Godzilla could also sense the human was determined to accomplish something. That sense of determination was something Godzilla normally identified with. However, as he was now, he felt he could no longer accomplish his goal. His body no longer listened to him and was too damaged to do what needed to be done. He could only close his eyes as the dust began to engulf him and his head fell to the ground.

Godzilla awoke a minute or so later, his ears picking up the sounds of battle not far away. His head came up and he looked out to the sea to find the female MUTO was back on her feet and combating other humans firing weapons at her. Godzilla put his head back down on the ground, but as he did so a sound came from his left. His eyes snapped open and his head turned towards the sound and he saw the male MUTO was not dead yet. Its eyes were flickering, and but it was in fact still alive. Godzilla's mouth curled in a snarl and he managed to push himself up onto his hands. He leaned over to the left, above the MUTO, before bearing down with his open jaws and slamming them shut around the MUTO's throat. Godzilla closed his jaws with all his might, and as they came together he backed away and watched the MUTOs life blood leave it as the light in its eyes finally faded. Godzilla could sense its final demise as he let the remains in his mouth drop to the ground, and he looked to the female with renewed determination and a new idea in mind.

Godzilla forced himself to his feet as the female began to walk out into the water, and he made his way through the city as quietly as he could. Given his size, that was difficult, but his lack of energy actually played to his favor in this regard as he couldn't lift his feet as high which produced less sound. His feet touched the water as the MUTO knelt down looking at a boat in the water, and Godzilla lunged forward grabbing her shoulder in his mouth and squeezing his jaws shut as best he could. Her hide was tougher, however, and he couldn't shut them. But he what he could do was wrench her back and away from the boat as he grabbed both her upper and lower jaws in his hands and began to pull them apart. Godzilla quickly gathered his remaining strength and powered up his atomic breath, opening her mouth again and letting fire down her throat. The attack was a near instantaneous kill, and as her head was burned off of her spine her body fell away into the water at his feet.

Godzilla roared in triumph towards the skies before dropping her head into the water. He then turned towards the city and walked to shore. He was so exhausted that just keeping his head up was a chore, and one he was unable to keep up for very long. Godzilla soon collapsed, unable to hold himself up any farther. His energy was gone, his body was in great pain, and his consciousness faded to nothing as he blacked out. His eyes closed slowly, and his breathing came to a halt. As he lay there, his body was half buried by another building which had finally been brought down by a lack of integrity brought about by the female chasing the soldiers just a short while ago. Come the morning light, Godzilla seemed to have too faded from this world along with the MUTOs.


	17. Chapter 15 - Farewell To The King

**Chapter 15 - Finale, Farewell To The King**

_Date: May 24, 2014_

_Time: 0740_

_Location: San Francisco_

—

The city was in ruins and the suns rays did nothing to bring any sense of relief or happiness to the city as it reeled from the chaos of the previous day. Godzilla's path of destruction through the area as well as the battle with the MUTOs brought forth billions of dollars in estimated damages and left thousands dead, dying, or missing. Godzilla's body was motionless where it fell not far from the docks surrounded by the debris of the building which fell on and around him after his collapse with seabirds flying about around him. Many of the people crowding the streets believed him to be dead, or they would not have been there in the first place.

Drs. Serizawa and Graham climbed over some of the debris to a vantage point and looked at Godzilla's lifeless form, and Serizawa fought back tears as Dr. Graham bowed her head and closed her eyes.

"You worthless lizard! You ruined our city!" A random person below them cried.

"We'll be cleaning and rebuilding for decades after this!" Another one screamed.

"The sooner they chop this pathetic carcass up and toss it into the sea, the better!" Came another angered citizen's voice.

Serizawa closed his eyes and tuned out the anger and the hatred for Godzilla which was spewing forth from the people around him as he looked then to Dr. Graham. She was beginning to tear up as she looked at him, and they both shared a moment of quiet sadness for Godzilla as those who did not understand him threw hatred at him like children throwing rocks at the neighborhood outcast.

Meanwhile, in one of the shelters, Ford had been reunited with his son Sam who was brought to him by Laura. They'd made it safely out of the city and rushed to find Ford, which had taken them hours to do. Ford had nearly broken down seeing his son alive and well, and he held him close as they sat together in the shelter. Ford was wearing medical wrapping on his right wrist from the sprain and had to walk with a crutch due to the injury in his leg. He looked up and saw Godzilla on the news broadcast, with the caption reading "Godzilla dead? World safe once more?"

"Hey dad?" Sam asked.

"Yeah? What is is big guy?"

"Is Godzilla dead?"

Ford looked up at the live feed and watched Godzilla, and shook his head.

"Nah. He's just sleeping," he told Sam, giving his son a smile and a kiss on the forehead.

"So he's going to be okay right?"

Ford nodded to him, though in his heart he was unsure. He knew that Godzilla was catching a lot of hate for the damages to the city, as he'd heard plenty of such insults and blames thrown at him here before his son arrived. But Godzilla was not responsible for the damage. Had the MUTOs never been allowed to live in the first place and their pods disposed of, Godzilla may never have surfaced in the first place.

No.

It was humanity who was responsible for this tragic affair. Mankind's interference with nature was what brought Godzilla and the devastation which followed to their world, and Ford grit his teeth as he heard yet another wrench thrown at Godzilla from a man standing next to him.

"That ugly lizard better stay dead," the man said.

Ford looked to him, setting Sam down on the side away from this man.

"Hey, you want to shut up?" He asked.

The man looked at Ford.

"What was that? You think the lizard should live after everything he did?"

"Like what? Destroy the creatures which were spawning in China Town and would have released hundreds of more like them to overrun our world?"

"Tch. Whatever. Even if it did kill those things, that ass ugly creature destroyed our city. There's no forgiveness for that."

Ford stood up with the help of his crutch.

"You have a family?" He asked.

The man nodded.

"I got a wife and three kids," he answered, unsure of what Ford was getting at.

"Where are they?"

"Safe outside the city."

"Why are you here?"

"I am here because I couldn't get out of the city in time to join them."

"Well that 'ass ugly creature' is the only reason you and your family aren't dead already. If he hadn't stopped those things, there'd be nowhere for your family to hide and be safe from those things."

"Hey, you watch your mouth!"

Ford stepped towards him.

"What are you going to do about it? Deny the truth and bury it away because you can't stop grieving for your wallet?"

The man looked appalled.

"I can tell by what's left of your suit that you're a business man, likely a CEO of a company which Godzilla destroyed. That's the real reason you want him to stay dead, isn't it? Because he destroyed your method of raking in the cash and living a life of luxury. Right?"

Ford was right. The man was in fact the CEO and owner of a respectful business which provided him with a near seven digit income each year. His face turned red with anger at Ford's comment, and he lashed out with a punch to Ford's head. Ford used his crutch as a balance point and leaned out of the way of the punch before grabbing it with his free hand and twisting it around, pinning the man's hand in the middle of his back before shoving him forward to the ground. The man shook it off and looked up at Ford as he slowly made it to his feet.

"Show a little respect for the creature who saved the world. Your money and the government who give it to you could never have pulled it off. Their method for doing so was to blow us all up," Ford said, clenching his fist.

The man stood up and bared his teeth at Ford before he stormed away. Ford watched him until he was completely out of sight before he sat back down next to Sam, who was a little scared about that scuffle.

"Dad, what's 'ass ugly' mean?"

Ford turned to Sam with a shocked look on his face.

"Um… Don't worry about it. It's just an insult, and a mean one at that so don't ever use it okay?"

"Okay."

Ford patted Sam on the head and pulled him into a hug. He looked up and eyed the crowd, searching and hoping to see Elle, but he couldn't. He picked up Sam and walked to the exit as a new batch of people returning to the shelter to look for loved ones began to arrive. He walked over and saw a few other families reunited, and while he was happy for them he was sad that he wasn't seeing Elle among them. He turned around and started walking back to the area where they were sitting before when Sam got out of his arms and started running back towards the exit.

"Hey, Sam!"

Sam ran passed a few people and through the crowds towards the exit as Ford started to follow him. With his crutch, it was slow going to keep up with a determined child though, and he struggled to keep pace with his son.

"Mommy!" Sam called.

In the entrance, heading into the shelter, was Elle. She heard Sam's voice, and she whispered "Sam?" to herself. She was dirty, exhausted, and overwhelmed emotionally and physically after everything that happened. She'd been inside one of the subway shelters as Godzilla fought above them in the streets and killed the male MUTO. The building which fell on him at that point had nearly collapsed the shelter she was in, and caused the deaths of nearly two hundred people.

She started to walk faster.

"Mommy! Mommy!" Sam called.

"Sam?!" Elle called back.

"Mommy!"

"Sam!" She cried.

Her eyes filled with tears as she ran for her son and embraced him. She laughed and cried at the same time clutching her son tightly to her chest. She stroked his hair and kissed his forehead and cheeks several times as she held her beloved son. She had been so worried since the moment she put him on that bus that something would go wrong, and she saw the reports of school buses being stuck on the Golden Gate Bridge before the MUTOs arrived and screwed up the television feeds with their emp abilities. She feared the worst for Sam, and coupled with her not being able to see or hear from Ford in that time she was beyond a wreck.

It was at that moment that Ford approached, but he kept a respectful distance to let her enjoy the reunion with their son. He smiled, nodding at the sight before her eyes opened and fell on him. She stopped sobbing, and stood up slowly. She began to walk towards Ford as Sam stayed right by her side with an innocent smile on his face.

"Hey Elle," Ford whispered.

Elle ran froward the last few steps and planted her face against his, kissing her husband in what felt like the first time in years what with all that had happened. The two embraced each other and shed a few tears together, happy beyond words that their family was finally back together again. They walked out of the shelter together just in time to witness something amazing.

Watching Godzilla's body, Serizawa and Graham were just about to leave when his nostrils suddenly flared and let out a puff of dirt and air.

The people around him scattered, and Serizawa and Graham watched in amazement as his eyes opened and began scanning their environment. The pair of scientists were brought out of their sadness and nearly to tears at seeing Godzilla's head slowly rise with a groan as his hands slid forward along the ground. He propped himself up and shook his body free of the debris and managed to get to his knees. His right arm collapsed for a moment, the gash in his chest still evident. Graham and Serizawa started in concern and made a single step towards him until they realized that they were too small and insignificant to help him.

Godzilla's eyes shut and his mouth curled into a snarl at the pain still pumping through his system. However, he opened his eyes again and forced himself up and to his feet as the people watching stared in awe. They were finally able to see Godzilla up close and personal without him involved in some kind of conflict. The might and majesty he exuded was inspiring to some, and horrifying to others. Godzilla looked down and saw the hundreds of people in the streets around him, and they all began to back away slowly as his eyes trailed a path through the crowds.

Ford, Elle, and Sam made it out of the shelter and saw Godzilla on his feet. Sam did a cheer for Godzilla as Elle held her husband's hand in fear. She was still shaken by her encounters with Godzilla, but Ford reassured her that everything was all right. It was hard for her to accept given how big Godzilla was that everything was just "all right," but she trusted her husband and forced herself to relax as the family made their way towards him through the streets. Godzilla stood motionless for a few solid minutes, and by the time he started moving again Ford and the others had made it to a small rise where they saw Serizawa smiling at Godzilla and nodding in approval of his return to the sea.

Then, Ford looked down the street and saw a familiar face.

"Dad!" He yelled out.

Sitting in a wheelchair about forty meters away was Joe. He looked over at Ford and smiled, waving at his family as they all rushed over as fast as Ford's crutch would allow.

"Ford," Joe said as a tear rolled down his cheek.

Ford gave his father a hug and a kiss before he was replaced by Elle and Sam doing the same.

"Hey, big man! Have you missed me?" Joe asked.

"Yeah grandpa! We missed you!"

"He's right Joe, we did," Elle said with a laugh.

Joe laughed with her and the family shared a moment before Godzilla appeared in the distance lumbering towards the ocean through the rubble of the city. Ford and his family followed Godzilla all the way to the docks where they saw him wade into the water. At the moment it was only up to his knees, but he continued his course as the Brody family watched from the shore.

"So, dad…" Ford asked.

"Yes Ford?" Joe responded.

"What do you think?" Ford asked, gesturing to Godzilla.

Joe looked back to Godzilla with a smile and a few silent nods of affirmation.

"I think he's a magnificent creature who has earned my respect Ford," was his simple and honest response.

"If more creatures like those MUTOs show up, do you think Godzilla will come back?" Elle asked.

Joe nodded.

"I think he will," he responded.

"You sure dad?" Ford asked.

Joe nodded again.

"Yes Ford, I'm sure. But it won't be for us."

"What do you mean grandpa?" Sam asked.

Joe chuckled.

"Well Sam, Godzilla is special. He can't be reasoned with. He can't be bribed. And he can't be controlled. He's a force of nature. A power which our planet uses to restore balance when it is threatened."

Joe nodded silently to himself.

"He's what you might call a God," Joe said quietly.

"His back looks like a crown," Sam said randomly as he watched Godzilla wade into deeper water and begin to swim away.

Everyone laughed at Sam's little statement, including Sam. They all nodded in agreement that from a distance Godzilla's spines almost reminded them of a king's crown from Sam's bedtime story books. Ford picked up his son and they all watched Godzilla stopped walking when the water was up to his waist. Godzilla looked up towards the skies and let out one final roar before leaning forward and submerging most of his body save for his spines beneath the surface of the water.

"Amazing, isn't he?" A voice asked from behind them.

Ford and the others turned around and saw Serizawa and Graham approaching.

"I'd say so doctor," Joe responded.

Graham looked at Sam with a smile and looked out to sea.

"It almost did look like a crown didn't it?" Graham asked.

"Yeah! Godzilla is like a king!" Sam stated happily.

Ford and the others all laughed together as the doctors came to stand next to them.

"Indeed he is," Serizawa said quietly, nodding a few times in affirmation.

"The King of the Monsters," he whispered.


End file.
